Scientists attempting to revive the UK's ailing native oyster beds are urging people to carry on eating oysters, despite calls to the contrary.
They say oyster beds will only be restored if there's the economic driver of demand for oysters on the plate.
The issue is being addressed at a conference at St Catharine's College, Cambridge, on Tuesday.
Britain's oyster beds are thought once to have smothered much of the bed of shallow areas of the North Sea.
They have never recovered from devastating over-fishing in the 19th Century when the railways carted shellfish to Dickens' booming London.
Only a few beds remain scattered around the coasts now and the total area is estimated to have been reduced by perhaps more than 90 percent — some scientists think 99 percent.
Scientists say that reduction has directly contributed to a drop in fish catches through changes to the ecosystem. The jagged oyster beds create a habitat for spawning fish, prey fish and fish food like polychaete worms and baby crabs.
They also filter seawater — up to three liters an hour — which improves the habitat for sea grasses, which in turn provide shelter for breeding fish. And they slow down waves, helping to protect vulnerable coastlines.
"There are a suite of benefits that oyster beds bring," says Cambridge biologist Philine zu Ermgassen, one of the conference organizers. "From the United States we have good evidence that if you improve oyster beds, you see an increase in fish stocks. These benefits have been recognized and there is a lot of funding from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and local authorities for a major program to restore oyster beds.
