Six Oyster Hubs Installed at Ecowende Offshore Wind Farm

Six offshore oyster hubs have been installed at the 760 MW Ecowende offshore wind farm in the Dutch North Sea, as part of an initiative to help restore native European flat oyster populations.

The structures, installed by Van Oord's vessel Nexus, contain approximately 3,600 adult European flat oysters (Ostrea edulis) and thousands of juvenile oysters, known as spat, which could establish a new source of larvae in the offshore environment, according to the Ecowende joint venture between Shell, Eneco and Chubu Electric Power.

The developer said the species was once widespread in the North Sea but has largely disappeared because of overfishing, seabed disturbance, and disease, and that a lack of oyster larvae offshore is one barrier to its recovery.

The hubs, which provide stable, elevated habitats where oysters can grow and reproduce, incorporate specially selected calcareous rock that can increase oyster settlement success by around 33 per cent, according to research cited by Ecowende.

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