Shellfish Association of Great Britain

Ocean ecosystems have been subjected to anthropogenic influences for centuries, but the scale of past ecosystem changes is often unknown. For centuries, the European flat oyster (Ostrea edulis), an ecosystem engineer providing biogenic reef habitats, was a culturally and economically significant source of food and trade. These reef habitats are now functionally extinct, and almost no memory of where this ecosystem once existed, at what scales, or its past form and functioning, remains. The described datasets present qualitative and quantitative extracts from written records published between 1524 and 2022, which show: (1) locations of past oyster fisheries and/or oyster reef habitat across its biogeographical range, with associated levels of confidence; (2) extent of past oyster reef habitats, and; (3) species associated with these habitats. These datasets will be of use to inform accelerating restoration activities, to establish reference models for anchoring adaptive management of restoration action, and in contributing to global efforts to recover records on the hidden history of anthropogenic-driven ocean ecosystem degradation.

The protocol of culture of Macrobrachium vollenhovenii the main indigenous candidate for freshwater prawn culture in Africa is still under study. Though just few information exists, the transition of larvae from stage V to stage VI has been reported as the critical rearing period in larviculture. This study was to evaluate the efficiency of two locally diets to supplement Artemia in the feeding scheme from stage V to post larvae in the larviculture of this species. The two experimental diets were differentiated by the main source of protein: fish silage (Diet 1) and shrimp meat (Diet 2). One batch of larvae was cultured till stage V. The experiment itself was conducted in triplicate with three treatments: feeding Artemia exclusively (TA, control); fed partial replacement of Artemia with inert diet 1 (T1) or fed partial replacement of Artemia with diet 2 (T2). Larval development in T2 was significantly faster than TA and T1. Survival rate was significantly higher in T2 (12.64±1.2%) than TA (6.57±0.29%) and T1 (6.77±0.17%). The total length of larvae in T2 was significantly higher than TA and T1. Though the highest survival obtained in this study is still low, it’s however higher than those reported in other studies with this species. Also, the importance of finding alternatives to Artemia and cheaper diets remains very important.

Responsible aquaculture, the farming of aquatic organisms, is a sustainable strategic sector for land and coastal communities. It significantly contributes to food security and enhancement of economic development; it provides employment opportunities and often contributes to the ecological services provided by the environment. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the contribution of aquaculture to the global food security is widely demonstrated by an astounding industry growth of 7.5% per year since 1970. In 2018, aquaculture reached the all-time highest production of 114.5 million tonnes in live weight with a total farm gate sale value of USD 263.6 billion. This makes aquaculture a key player within the Blue Growth concept and a strong contributor to some of its key Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). This is particularly true in geographical areas where dependence of local economies on fishery products is high, and yet access to sustainable landings is hampered by ecological barriers. One such area is represented by the Black Sea basin. Whilst the Black Sea annual capture fishery production has varied considerably since 1990 and its current landings are significant, growing attention is currently given to boost aquaculture development along the Black Sea bordering countries, with marine aquaculture being considered as an important contributor to the total fisheries production. Nonetheless, aquaculture development in this region is not homogenous and its development has, so far, been limited by environmental, economic, social, and more generally governance issues. This paper, for the first time, attempts to provide a comprehensive fresh outlook of the aquaculture sector in the Black Sea, stressing the importance of regional cooperation as an essential pillar to support the sustainable development of the industry. The paper addresses aquaculture in the Black Sea from different perspectives: it outlines the key characteristics of the Black Sea environment; it discusses the most common farmed aquatic species and the potential for new ones; it frames the national approaches to aquaculture development, sharing information about success stories, while shedding light on the main challenges and priorities ahead. This collective endeavour will represent a helpful contribution to Black Sea riparian countries to answer the many questions they have, and expectations they hold from the aquaculture sector.

Abstract The Native Oyster Restoration Alliance (NORA) supports the protection and ecological restoration of the native European oyster, Ostrea edulis, and its habitat across its current and historical biogeographical range. NORA works to overcome barriers to the conservation, restoration, and recovery of the European oyster by providing a platform for the NORA community to collaborate and participate in knowledge exchange. NORA seeks to support responsible restoration practice, in compliance with biosecurity and sustainability. Against this background, the NORA community formulated a series of specific recommendations, the Berlin Oyster Recommendation, to support native oyster restoration by developing and applying best practice with the aim to recover healthy and resilient marine ecosystems. In combination with the Standards for Ecological Restoration (SER) and the Restoration Guidelines for Shellfish Reefs, the Berlin Oyster Recommendation is a relevant tool for successful and sustainable oyster restoration in Europe. The establishment of NORA working groups will support the implementation and further development of the six corresponding recommendations. Current NORA working groups cover site selection, biosecurity, production, and monitoring. The site selection working group will address the identification of suitable sites for oyster restoration to support policy relevant decision making and the conservation, reinforcement, or reintroduction of native oysters. The biosecurity working group will develop biosecurity guidelines for native oyster restoration in Europe. The production working group will assess the potential of standards for seed oyster production and supply in order to enhance production appropriate for restoration purposes. In close collaboration with the Native Oyster Network – UK & Ireland (NON), the monitoring working group will produce a monitoring guidelines handbook to provide metrics and methods that will be suitable across the range of O. edulis projects in Europe for the documentation of restoration success and ecosystem recovery. The Berlin Oyster Recommendation was examined and interpreted by NORA experts in the context of the further development of joint guidelines for the practice of successful and sustainable native oyster restoration.

Efforts to restore the native oyster Ostrea edulis and its associated habitats are gaining momentum across Europe. Several projects are currently running or being planned. To maximize the success of these, it is crucial to draw on existing knowledge and experience in order to design, plan and implement restoration activities in a sustainable and constructive approach. For the development of best practice recommendations and to promote multidimensional knowledge and technology exchange, the Native Oyster Restoration Alliance (NORA) was formed by partners from science, technology, nature conservation, consultancies, commercial producers and policy-makers. The NORA network will enhance scientific and practical progress in flat oyster restoration, such as in project planning and permitting, seed oyster production, disease management and monitoring. It also focuses on joint funding opportunities and the potential development of national and international regulatory frameworks. The main motivation behind NORA is to facilitate the restoration of native oyster habitat within its historic biogeographic range in the North Sea and other European seas along with the associated ecosystem services; services such as enhancing biodiversity, including enhanced fish stocks, nutrient cycling and sediment stabilization. NORA members agreed on a set of joint recommendations and strongly advise that any restoration measure should respect and apply these recommendations: The Berlin Oyster Recommendation is presented here. It will help guide the development of the field by developing and applying best practice accordingly. NORA also aims to combine the outreach activities of local projects for improved community support and awareness and to provide educational material to increase knowledge of the key ecological role of this species and increase awareness among regulators, permit providers and stakeholders. A synthesis of O. edulis restoration efforts in Europe is provided and underlines the general significance in the field.

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