The Native Oyster Network – UK & Ireland is pleased to announce a European Native Oyster Biosecurity Workshop to be co-hosted with Native Oyster Restoration Alliance (NORA) at Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh Campus, 13th-14th January 2020.
The aim of the workshop is to agree and draft Europe-wide recommendations for biosecurity in European native oyster restoration. Topics covered will include biosecurity relating to translocation of wild and aquacultured oysters as well as cultch material for restoration purposes.
The resulting recommendations will be published as a stand-alone document on the UK Network and NORA webpages, as well as being included as a chapter in the UK & Ireland Restoration Guidelines handbook which is currently in development. A summary of the recommendations will also be submitted for peer reviewed publication.
Key questions that will be addressed during the workshop include:
- What are the current best practise protocols and guidelines that restoration practitioners are using?
- What are the key threats that are arising from the significant acceleration in ecological restoration?
- What are the emerging invasive species and diseases?
- What are the agreed minimum standards to mitigate the potential threats?
Please note that by agreeing to attend the workshop you also commit to preparing some material in advance (e.g. writing up and/or researching existing biosecurity protocols), as well as to contributing to actively drafting text for the biosecurity guidance at the workshop itself, and some post-workshop wrap up. During the workshop there will be an opportunity tour the Heriot-Watt aquarium facilities and have demonstrated the biosecurity measures that are implemented during The DEEP project.
The workshop will start on Monday 13th January at 12:00, to account for attendee travel time, and end on Tuesday 14th January by 16:30. We are pleased to confirm that NON and NORA have secured funding to cover expenses for you to attend the workshop, which includes two nights’ accommodation if necessary (£75 maximum per night), and travel costs of up to £150 in total.
If you are interested in contributing to this workshop, please contact Celine.Gamble@zsl.org by Monday 25th November. However, please note that there is a limited capacity of 25 attendees to this workshop, therefore your attendance cannot be guaranteed.
