DEME and The Oyster Restoration Company have launched a large offshore oyster reef restoration project in the Belgian North Sea, placing 1,800 biodegradable reef elements carrying at least 1m European flat oyster spat on the seabed, according to DEME.
The EuroReefs project was commissioned by Belgium’s Federal Public Service Health, Food Chain Safety and Environment and financed by NextGenerationEU.
The oyster spat belong to Ostrea edulis, the native European flat oyster species, and were installed last week at a dedicated site in the Hinderbanken gravel bed area.
The reef elements were loaded at the port of Ardersier in Scotland onto DEME’s split hopper barge Vlaanderen VIII for placement on the seabed.
The project builds on earlier pilot work and takes oyster reef restoration towards larger offshore deployment. DEME and The Oyster Restoration Company are combining offshore engineering, logistics and ecological expertise to support marine biodiversity, water filtration, seabed stabilisation and habitat creation.
DEME is a Belgian marine contractor active in offshore energy, dredging, marine infrastructure and environmental remediation, with activities also covering offshore wind, marine infrastructure, green hydrogen and deep-sea mineral harvesting.
The Oyster Restoration Company is a Scotland-based native oyster restoration specialist that raises disease-free native oysters from its base in Aultbea and works on rebuilding oyster reefs in European waters.