Oyster project is booming in centre of Bangor
By Gabrielle Swan
IT’S an unlikely location to save a species, but the native oyster restoration project beneath Bangor marina is booming.
Six hundred oysters are quietly living beneath the pontoons at the huge marina and two years after being installed as part of a major project by Ulster Wildlife the results are hugely encouraging.
The marina oyster project was the first of its kind in Northern Ireland – although a second has since opened in Glenarm – providing a home for the oysters in 24 cages.
The Native Oyster Restoration Project being run by Ulster Wildlife, is funded by the Environmental Challenge Fund operated by the Department for Agriculture, the Environment and Rural Affairs.
Up until 1903, oyster reefs carpeted vast swathes of the Northern Irish seafloor. There, they attracted different species of marine creatures, provided habitats for smaller fish and crustaceans, all while individually filtering 200 litres of water a day.
However, pollution, disease, invasive species and overfishing in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, decimated populations of the molluscs. This led to their assumed extinction in Belfast Lough until the summer of 2020 when some of the oysters were discovered alive on the shores of Belfast Lough.
In April 2022. Ulster Wildlife approached Bangor Marina to set up the first of its kind nursery in Northern Ireland, hanging 27 oysters in 24 cages beneath the boardwalk of the harbour.
Since the surprise discovery four years ago Bangor’s new oysters have been thriving. In fact, according to Marine Conservation Officer, Cara Bradley, the Bangor molluscs have been growing five times quicker than their County Antrim cousins.
“We come here to Bangor every two weeks with volunteers to take the measurements, weigh them and have a check over them,” said Cara. “We have created these nurseries and the idea is that they will spawn and re-populate Belfast Lough.
“Oysters filter 200 litres of water a day, and that is one individual oyster. When they spawn, there is a larva, and the larvae attach to other oysters and from a reef, and that is very good at increasing biodiversity, and is also a good nursery for small juvenile fish.
“The native oysters here in Bangor are actually growing better than the ones in Glenarm. They have grown five times faster in a year than the ones in County Antrim. We think that there is just more nutrients in these waters so that they can feed better,” added Cara.
Highlighting the ideal conditions for these bivalves to grow, is fellow conservation officer, Nick Baker-Horne.
“They need a good food supply. A zero to ten metre depth of water is where they like to hang around, but it can be deeper than that.
“You may think they want perfectly pristine, clean, clear waters, but there is not much food for them. It’s a balancing act really.
“They are quite hardy, they actually clean the water for us as well. If anything, you want them in the slightly more messy zone. They do a good job for us.”
Harbour Master, Kevin Baird, wishes to highlight the oysters’ presence at the marina, and notes the other wildlife protection drives in place at Bangor Marina.
“We are the first marina in Northern Ireland to do this project. Wildlife Ulster approached us and we gladly accepted,” said the local harbour master.
“A lot of the visitors don’t know about it, because they hang in cages beneath the water, so it is very unintrusive. A lot of people don’t know they are there, but we are trying to highlight it.
“The environment is very close to our hearts. We do have other projects going on; we have nesting boxes around the piers, we try to breed the guillemots, and we also have WasteSharks, which helps gather up plastics from the sea and the marina. .
“At the moment we are helping Wildlife Ulster in that we are replacing all of the blocks on the pontoons, which will make it easier for them to lift up the cages.
“They actually lift up a trap door, the cage is hanging on ropes and those are attached to bars, which are attached to blocks. We are replacing those with recycled plastic blocks instead of wooden,” added Kevin.
