Twenty million native oysters have been restored to St George’s Bed in Galway Bay over the past four years following the work of a community organisation but billions are needed, says the group.
While 20 million may sound considerable, Cuan Beo programme manager Michael Officer says we must think bigger if native oysters are to become self-sustaining, because “for the benefits, you need billions”.
Oysters are the “kidneys of the ocean” – one mollusc can remove algae particles and sediment from up to 240 litres of seawater per day. They grow on one another as part of a reproductive strategy and create towering reefs that safeguard coasts from erosion and are biodiversity hot spots.
However, a parasite affecting native oysters and years of overfishing mean stocks across Europe are a small fraction of what they once were. Despite being famed for their taste, native oysters from Galway Bay are rarely sold or eaten.*
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Irish oyster culture now depends on farming the Pacific oyster which was introduced in the 1970s to replenish stocks. Pacific oysters are unaffected by the parasite, but the taste is of lower quality.
“Oysters have been important to people in Ireland since there were people on the island,” says Noël Wilkins, professor emeritus of genetics at the University of Galway. Houses all along Ireland’s coast were built on the back of the oyster industry and they have been a source of “fast food” for centuries.
As the traditional flat-bottomed oyster fishing boats decayed on the shoreline, coastal dwellers have all but forgotten the meaning of native oysters to their communities.
However, Cuan Beo has been using education, art, environmental science and policy strategies to reconnect locals to life in the sea since 2016. The organisation is run by master oyster farmer Diarmuid Kelly, researcher Colm O’Dowd and oyster farmer Gerry O’Halloran.
“We set it up because we weren’t being listened to as individuals,” says Kelly. “We wanted to emphasise to people that the land doesn’t end when you come to high water, that there’s a whole body of life out there, and a whole lot of people making a living from it.”
“People upstream have no idea that what they do is affecting oysters downstream”, he says. Kelly adds that habitats are being polluted by agricultural runoff, leaking septic tanks and urban rainwater upstream, which flow into the bay water where oyster colonies are like “sitting ducks”.
Fortunately, he says the water in southeast Galway Bay has been upgraded to a class A standard by the Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority, although Kelly is mindful of Cuan Beo’s role in improving the water.
The group is looking forward to seeing national legislation establishing 30 per cent of the Republic’s maritime area as a Marine Protected Area by 2030. The Government’s pledge is greater than the 20 per cent required under the European Union nature restoration directive.
Cuan Beo are planning an eco-credit project to quantify the value of oyster restoration and incentivise private financing of environmental projects. The organisation has received the maximum in local government and EU funding that can be allocated for the project. Consequently, it needs additional investment to scale up oyster restoration.
Meanwhile, children in Clarinbridge primary school have been creating clay shells from moulds of ancient oyster shells with Galway-based artist Claire McLaughlin. These will be laid on the seabed as a surface upon which new oysters can grow.
“The children and the present oystering community [are] using this gift from the past to wish them well in their restoration,” says McLaughlin.
*This article was updated on July 23rd as a previous version stated native oysters are no longer sold or eaten.
