UK Oyster Farm Ecosystem Benefits Survey Data 2022-2024

Research partners Tethys Oysters Ltd., Envision Marine Ltd., and the University of Essex measured biodiversity and denitrification at oyster aquaculture sites in England and Wales. Surveys in 2022 and 2023 collected underwater imagery, sediment samples, and oyster dredging data to assess ecosystem services. The project aimed to communicate the environmental benefits of aquaculture to consumers, industry, and decision-makers.

Use Cases

• Modeling biodiversity differences between oyster farms and control sites based on underwater imagery and sediment macrofauna data.
• Analyzing denitrification and nitrification activity based on genomic analysis of sediment and oyster surface swabs.
• Assessing oyster population recovery based on abundance surveys at a historically restocked site.
• Correlating sediment characteristics like particle size distribution and total organic carbon with observed biodiversity.

Strengths

• Data collection involved multiple methodologies: underwater imagery, sediment sampling, oyster dredging, and genomic analysis.
• Surveys cover multiple sites, including three oyster farms, one natural reef, and a historically restocked site for comparison.
• Research was conducted by a partnership between industry (Tethys Oysters Ltd.) and academia (University of Essex).

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count and file size are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data may reflect geographic bias inherent to the specific sites surveyed in England and Wales.

Provenance

Source

Government Digital Service (via eu_open_data platform), originating from the Fisheries Industry Science Partnerships (FISP) project.

Collection Method

Field surveys including underwater camera recording, sediment sampling for macrofauna and chemistry, oyster dredging, and ecosystem function sampling for genomic analysis.

Time Range

2022-2023

Freshness

Data collection occurred in 2022 and 2023; last update date is unknown.

Geography

Oyster aquaculture and reef sites in England and Wales.