Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-07-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of a programme to introduce more oysters in the waters around the UK.

George Eustice

Fisheries management is a devolved issue in the UK. The Government currently has no plans to make an assessment of the potential merits of a programme to introduce more oysters to the waters around England.

Oyster restoration schemes currently underway in the UK include the Chichester Harbour Oyster Partnership Initiative, the Essex Native Oyster Regeneration Initiative, and an initiative in the Solent led by the Blue Marine Foundation.

In 2005, Defra and Seafish commissioned Cefas to produce a feasibility study of native oyster (Ostrea edulis) stock regeneration in the UK. The full report is available on the Seafish website.