The return of wild oysters!

'Extinct' oysters return to Forth

Declared extinct in 1957, wild oysters are back in the Firth of Forth

Live oysters have been found in the Firth of Forth - decades after they were declared extinct in the area, BBC Scotland can reveal.

Scientists said the discovery was hugely significant and could lead to future commercial production. Forth oysters, once regarded as among the best in Britain, were wiped out through over-fishing.

But Stirling University scientists have discovered wild oysters in the firth which might be farmed commercially.

Dr Elizabeth Ashton of the University of Stirling's Institute of Aquaculture discovered the oysters at a secret location. With improving water quality in the Forth there's no reason why we shouldn't be able to re-establish them Dr Janet Brown University of Stirling She recalled: "I put my wellies on and my raincoat and was walking along the slippery stones by the water's edge many times and then out of the corner of my eye I saw what I thought could be an oyster and the tide was still going out so I had to wait a while and yes it was a specimen of a native oyster.

Scottish oyster production is now centred on Loch Ryan in the south west, but once it was the Forth that produced a plentiful supply.

Dr Ashton said: "The Firth of Forth was once the major oyster fishery in Scotland and at its peak produced over 30 million oysters a year and they were exported all across Europe." Chef and owner of the Ondine restaurant in Edinburgh, Roy Brett specialises in shellfish. He relishes the prospect of Scottish east coast oysters.

The Forth between the bridges The location of the Forth oysters is a closely guarded secret He said: "This is the best oyster because it actually tastes of the sea. "When I told the guys in the kitchen that one day we might have Edinburgh oysters on, it was a good feeling. "We know it's early days but just to hear that news, it's so encouraging.

" Dr Ashton and her colleagues at the University of Stirling believe that after the Forth oyster was declared extinct back in 1957, now nature is fighting back. Dr Janet Brown is also based at the Institute of Aquaculture.

She said: "We thought that they had been overfished and it was pollution that had caused them to die out. "Obviously some of them had survived and with improving water quality in the Forth there's no reason why we shouldn't be able to re-establish them." And that could be on a commercial scale.

Source:

'Extinct' oysters return to Forth - BBC News

news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/8343331.stm