A new tool to help increase the native oyster population around the English coast has been launched, the Environment Agency announced  on World Ocean Day, 8 June.

Native oyster populations have decreased by 95% in England since the mid-1800s, mainly due to over-fishing.

The aim is to reverse this decline because they bring multiple benefits, including cleansing seawater through filtration and increasing biodiversity and fish abundance.

Developed by academics from the University of Exeter and the University of Edinburgh for the Environment Agency, the new map data layer is on the ArcGIS (geographical information service) site and provides information on the location of historic native oyster records and distributions.

It will also sit on the Coastal Data Explorer, which is a public web mapping portal managed by the Catchment Based Approach initiative.

It can act as a tool to support local authorities, community partnerships and environmental organisations to make the case for native oyster restoration projects, one of the three estuarine and coastal habitats that are the focus of the Restoring Meadows, Marsh and Reef (ReMeMaRe) habitat restoration partnership project.

The layer works alongside the Environment Agency’s Native Oyster Restoration Potential maps that highlight areas where oyster restoration could be successful, and the UK & Ireland Native Oyster Network and Environment Agency’s European Native Oyster Habitat Restoration Handbook that provides guidelines on how to restore these valuable habitats.

The handbooks and maps aim to counter the huge loss in native oyster reefs over the last two centuries by encouraging and supporting new restoration projects.

The map layer was created using data from government, and scientific and maritime bodies, and historic media accounts that mention the use and presence of the native oyster, Ostrea edulis, across England.

Further information can be read here.