Country diary: These oysters are destined – we hope – for great things | Claire Stares

Portsmouth, Hampshire: A huge conservation effort is under way to restore native oysters to the Solent, and I was on hand to help give them a pre-release spa day

Native oysters (Ostrea edulis) have been harvested from Chichester Harbour since Roman times, but due to overfishing, disease, pollution and competition from invasive Pacific oysters (Magallana gigas), the population has declined by 96% over the past century.

The Solent Oyster Restoration Project is working to restore reefs by reseeding them with juveniles and installing cages containing a high density of mature broodstock beneath pontoons, to facilitate the release of millions of larvae.