Overview

• ZSL and Groundwork installed 20 Marine Crete reef cubes holding 4,000 native oysters about 1.8 km off the Tyne and Wear coast.
• More than 35,000 juvenile oysters were deployed on shells alongside 40 tonnes of repurposed scallop shells to build the reef bed, or cultch.
• The cubes are being trialled as seabed ballast and feature textured surfaces and central portholes to encourage attachment and shelter for marine life.
• An earlier 2023 release of 10,000 oysters and 750 tonnes of cultch was partly dispersed by extreme weather, including Storm Babet, prompting the new approach.
• The five-year effort is led by South Tyneside Council under the Stronger Shores programme with Environment Department funding, supported by local volunteers who cleaned and attached oysters using specialist reef glue.