Milford Haven project aims to release 200,000 native oysters in 2027
A project to restore native oysters in the Milford Haven Waterway aims to produce 200,000 juveniles for release in 2027. Bangor University announced the target on Monday 28 September. It is working with Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority, the Pembrokeshire Marine Special Area of Conservation and Tethys Oysters Ltd. Funding comes through the Welsh Government’s Coastal Capacity Building Fund, overseen by Anglesey County Council.
Restoration programme
- Planned 2027 deployment
- 200,000 juveniles
- Already produced and deployed
- Around 250,000
- Published survival rate
- Not provided
What has happened already
The university says its School of Ocean Sciences has developed methods for producing young native oysters, known as spat, since 2021. The hatchery uses breeding oysters from Milford Haven. Around 250,000 juveniles have already been produced and deployed, according to Bangor. That is a separate figure from the new 200,000 target for 2027. The announcement does not give a release date within that year or the project’s funding amount.
Why restore oysters?
Native oysters filter particles from the water and can form reef habitat for other marine life. Bangor identifies over-exploitation, disease, pollution and severe winters among the pressures behind their decline. The university says recent surveys show the deployed oysters are thriving. It does not publish survival rates, survey methods or measured changes in water quality in this announcement. The release totals therefore show the scale of the work, rather than proving that the waterway’s oyster population has recovered.