Following the move of Aquaculture Europe 2020 in Cork to an online format next year, the NORA Production Working Group have decided to meet independently online from 10am-2pm CET on Friday Dec 4th. Please register your interest with secretariat@noraeurope.eu.
The Production Working Group will meet with an exciting agenda. The meeting will kick off with a series of talks from both restoration practitioners and representatives of the oyster growing industry. The talks will be focused on exchanging knowledge about the practicalities of restoring oyster habitats and the practicalities of rearing and growing oysters. Following the presentations there will be a chaired discussion, giving restoration and industry partners the opportunity to voice any questions and comments about current practices in both fields of expertise.
The meeting will then reconvene after a break to develop two outputs from the meeting. First, a brief report in two parts outlining facts members of the oyster production industry found useful to know about restoration practice, and the second outlining information about oyster production identified as useful to know by oyster restoration practitioners.
The aim is to provide a forum for open communication regarding the information needed for the two groups to work effectively together in the future. The field of oyster restoration is growing in scope, scale and enthusiasm. Yet throughout the NORA network, the supply of native oyster adults and seed is frequently cited as a limitation in planned restoration projects. We aim to bring growers and restoration practitioners together to explain their mutual aims, requirements and timelines.
The second output will be a policy brief summarising the critical points raised by the Working Group. The following topics may be included:
- the environmental benefits of producing oysters in aquaculture and habitat restoration,
- overview of the demand for native oysters from restoration projects,
- the current knowledge gaps in meeting native oyster production for restoration, and
- the possible strategies for supporting payments to scaling up the production of oyster seed for oyster restoration (e.g. payment for ecosystem services, government support).
Please come and contribute and ensure that this policy brief is as inclusive, current, and well informed as possible. The policy brief will be shared with key policy makers and statutory bodies.
