Germany PROCEED

	Restoration of the European Oyster in the German North Sea Establishment of a sustainable oyster seed production for long-term restoration programs. Project duration: 2018 – 2025
	Conducted by the Alfred-Wegener-Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI), Bremerhaven – Helgoland – Sylt
	Funded by the German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN) with funds from the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection (BMUV) within the Federal Program on Biological Diversity.

Adult Broodstock oysters during conditioning. (Photo: Alfred-Wegener-Institut / B. Colsoul)

Large-scale microalgae production for feeding and conditioning broodstock oysters and for feeding oyster larvae and spat. (Photo: Alfred-Wegener-Institut / Kubikfoto)

pat-on-Shell produced in the Helgoland Oyster Hatchery. (Photo: Alfred-Wegener-Institut / C. Peter)

Following the Berlin Oyster Recommendation in 2017 and as a result of first insights of the German oyster restoration project RESTORE, PROCEED is engaged in establishing a European oyster hatchery on the German offshore island Helgoland. PROCEEDs overall goal is to supply ecological restoration and nature conservation measures in the German Bight with healthy oysters and therefore facilitate the return of the native oyster and its valuable ecosystem services. Current and upcoming biological and technical research questions within the process of seed oyster, and specially spat-on-shell, production are addressed and results are directly applied in the Helgoland Oyster Hatchery.

For a digital 360° tour through the hatchery please click here: https://helgoland.eventfive.de/?lang=en#video/541

Accompanying production and active research, PROCEED seeks and provides an intensive knowledge transfer into society: the interactive online knowledge platform www.heimische-auster.de, multiple exhibitions at different sites in Germany, as well as specifically developed educational material raise awareness for this ecological key species and the relevance of its restoration. Ostrea edulis habitats are characterized as hotspots of biodiversity and oyster reefs are used as an example to explain biodiversity as a stabilizing factor for the wider ecosystem and to underline the general significance of ecosystem functions and services.

A further project goal of PROCEED is the support of the NORA network: the NORA coordination was funded within the first two years of this project. The aim to facilitate the important communication and interaction between European oyster restoration projects is also reflected by the active participation of PROCEED in different NORA working groups, like the production and the outreach working group.