NORA 4Reconnecting across Europe
November 2021

Photo: Stéphane Pouvreau, IFREMER.

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Programme

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Programme

Tuesday November 23rd, 2021

10:00 Student session NORA Student Session
12:00 Gather.town Registration and mingle in Gather.town
13:00 Opening and Welcome
Hein Sas
13:30 Native Oyster Restoration Pilot Results Session
Chair: Alison Debney

Stéphane Pouvreau
The flat oyster restoration in France – 10 years of research and future perspectives

Emilie Reuchlin
Native oyster reefs in the Dutch North Sea: how much progress has been made in 5 years since discovery?

Oliver Tully
Update on native oyster restoration projects in Ireland

Luke Helmer
Solent Oyster Restoration Project update and a shift toward integrated restoration

14:15 Questions & Comments
14:30 Keynotes Keynote speaker: Betsy Peabody of the Puget Sound Restoration Fund
Let me count the ways
15:00 Questions & Comments
Chair: Boze Hancock
15:15 Gather.town Break and meet the keynote speaker in Gather.town
15:50 Site Selection Session
Chair: Bill Sanderson

Bernadette Pogoda
The late Holocene demise of a sublittoral oyster bed in the North Sea

Barbara Ondiviela
Historical ecology of flat oyster in the Atlantic coast of the Iberian Peninsula

David Smyth
Twenty years observing natives settling in the wild; natural site selection and lessons for restoration

Brecht Stechele
Modelling native oyster metabolism for aquaculture and restoration purposes

Luca van Duren
Modelling tools to support successful offshore oyster restauration

16:40 Questions & Comments
17:00 End of day one

Wednesday November 24th, 2021

8:30 Gather.town Registration and mingle in Gather.town
9:00 Opening
9:05 Production Session
Chair: Pauline Kamermans & Bérenger Colsoul

Bérenger Colsoul
Helgoland Oyster Hatchery: Design, operation, first production results and observations

Nicolas Araujo Piñeiro
Bonamia-free flat oyster (Ostrea edulis) spat-on-shell production: from small to large scale

Pauline Kamermans
Hatchery production of Bonamia-free and -resistant flat oysters (Ostrea edulis L.)

Matthew Johnston
Development of screening techniques for Bonamia to improve biosecurity and ensure disease free status for commercial shellfish hatcheries

Camilla Bertolini
Introducing MAREA: Matchmaking restoration, ecology and aquaculture

10:10 Questions & Comments
10:30 Gather.town Break and Poster Session in Gather.town
11:15 Edo Knegtering
Ensuring Bonamia-free introductions of Ostrea edulis for nature restoration purposes by implementing Regulation EU 2016/429 (‘Animal Health Law’) into national legislation of EU Member States
11:30 Management Session
Chair: Henning von Nordheim

Tom van der Have
Shared risks of aquaculture and restoration projects: is there a need to integrate biosecurity license procedure?

Remment ter Hofstede
The effect of human interventions at different scales within offshore wind farms to promote flat oyster (Ostrea edulis) reef development in the Southern North Sea

David Donnan
Where, when, how much, how long? Reflections from Scotland on securing successful native oyster restoration

Robert Whiteley
Native oyster restoration experiences from England´s Statutory Nature Conservation Body

12:15 Questions & Comments
12:30 Gather.town Lunch and Poster Session in Gather.town
13:30 Philine zu Ermgassen
European Native Oyster Habitat Restoration Monitoring Handbook
13:40 Monitoring Session
Chair: David Donnan

Renate Olie
The status of offshore wind farm Borssele 3 as a new flat oyster habitat

Tom Cameron
Experimental estimation of efficiency for oyster survey ladder dredges over different seabed sediments

Oscar Bos
Oyster monitoring challenges in an offshore wind farm (ECOFRIEND project)

Andrew Hunt
British Sub Aqua Club´s Operation Oyster

14:25 Questions & Comments
14:40 Gather.town Break and Poster Session in Gather.town
15:25 Working Group Session
Chair: Philine zu Ermgassen

Ruth Thurstan
Historical distribution of the native oyster (Ostrea edulis) in Europe

Anna Hughes
Determining the most important factors in site selection for European native oyster (Ostrea edulis) habitat restoration projects

Åsa Strand
Policy Brief and Information Sheets- the latest outputs from the NORA Production Working Group

15:55 Questions to NORA working group speakers
16:05 Advisory Board NORA session with the Advisory Board
17:00 Gather.town Happy Hour in Gather.town

Thursday November 25th, 2021

8:30 Gather.town Registration and mingle in Gather.town
9:00 Opening
9:05 Ecosystem Services Session
Chair: Joanne Preston and Luke Helmer

Joanne Preston
Habitat provisioning and nursery function of the European native oyster Ostrea edulis supported by the distinct and highly biodiverse community associated with native oyster habitat

Naomi Kennon
Understanding biodiversity restoration using sustainable, rotational fishery management

Marina Albentosa
Scope for growth of Mar Menor flat oysters under eutrophic conditions: Implications for future bioremediation actions

Hannah Lee
Balancing the equation: ´Blue carbon´ and the native European oyster (Ostrea edulis)

9:50 Questions & Comments
10:05 Keynotes Keynote speaker:
Chris Gillies, The Nature Conservancy‘s (Australia) Oceans Program Director
Seven years of oyster restoration in Australia. What’s going on down there?
10:30 Questions & Comments
Chair: Boze Hancock
10:45 Gather.town Break and meet the keynote speaker in Gather.town
11:15 Genetics Session
Chair: Pierre Boudry

Paulino Martínez
Origin of the Mar Menor (SE Spain) flat oyster population: the end of a legend

Homère Alves Monteiro
How Many Parents Have You Got? Parental Contribution in a Flat Oyster Hatchery

Paulino Martínez
Validation and mapping of flat oyster genetic markers associated with the Bonamia ostreae status following a population genomics approach

11:50 Questions & Comments
12:00 Advisory Board NORA session with the Advisory Board
12:45 Closing statement
13:00 End of the conference

Despite not meeting in person, the conference title remains

“NORA 4 – Reconnecting across Europe”

and the conference aims to do just that by taking place on Gather.town, a virtual meeting platform which allows participants to “walk” around and interact with one another much as you would in an in-person conference. The use of this interface is financially supported by the Rich North Sea programme.
The interface is simple to learn and the NORA Secretariat will be offering a series of drop in sessions from 11-12CET/10-11GMT in the week running up to the conference to introduce those new to the format. Further details will be shared with registered participants, but if you would like to get a head start you can try a Gather.town walk-through demo here….

NORA 4 Partners

The NORA Conference:
Purpose and Organisation of Programme Items

The NORA 4 Organising Committee, NORA Advisory Board and NORA 4 Scientific committee look forward to welcoming you to the NORA 4 conference from 23rd – 25th November 202. It is the active engagement and energy of the wider NORA community that we are seeking to provide a platform for during the conference. To this end, there are many elements of the conference which seek to deviate from a traditional conference focused on the sharing of scientific knowledge and achievements. Please attend prepared to participate in NORA-wide discussions, whether you are an established scientist, a non-academic project partner, or a student. We wish to create a forum where all voices can be heard. 

In order to give you a flavor of what is in store, here is a brief overview of the conference sessions.

Student Session (registration required)

At this postgraduate workshop, students at all stages of their research project will present their research plans or results, exchanging knowledge. Aiming to create a supportive environment, the workshop will be open not only to students, but to whoever is interested in joining the event as mentors or interested parties. There will, however, be a limited number of attendees to maintain a relaxed atmosphere. This session presents a great opportunity for networking and future collaborations. There will be a student-only social event held on the evening of the 22nd November. Registration and abstract submission for the student session is now open. The abstract deadline is July 15th 2021. We hope to see you there!

Keynotes

The NORA 4 Organising Committee and the NORA Advisory Board are delighted to be hosting two global leaders in restoration of Ostrea species from around the world. We look forward to learning about oyster restoration from long standing and fast growing projects from the Pacific coast of the USA and Australia, and in finding out what lessons can perhaps be transferred. 
Find out more about our keynote speakers Chris Gillies and Betsy Peabody.

Poster session

Posters are a great way to present activities and results, especially if you would like to discuss them further with interested parties face-to-face. In Gather.town, you have the possibility to discuss new results from restoration and research projects of the NORA community.

NORA Advisory Board/Secretariat Panel discussion

NORA is fortunate to have a dedicated Advisory Board, reflecting the geographic and professional diversity within the network. This session will provide an opportunity for the network to hear directly from the Advisory Board, and to pose their own questions in an open discussion.