Very exciting news at the Forth Marine Hatchery this week, as our oyster spatting ponds are officially up and running!
After months of hard work, construction is complete on both ponds, and they are up and running with a strong aeration system that Jake has been working on. This aeration system will allow for better distribution of algae and nutrients to our oysters and is vital to the projects success.
A big thank you to Forth Resource Management for lending us a tanker and driver which allowed us to fill each pond with 40,000L of seawater from North Berwick Harbour.
Now that the ponds are filled, we will be monitoring the water quality including temperature, salinity and pH, allowing them to settle before we add the broodstock oysters. As we move into late spring and summer, the warmer temperatures and longer daylight hours will help to encourage algae growth in the ponds, which will create ideal conditions for our oysters to spawn.
If all goes to plan, the oysters will release larvae into the ponds, and we’ll introduce scallop shells to the bottom of the pond to provide a surface for juvenile oysters to settle on and develop. Once developed, these oysters will become a great source of the species for their restoration in the Forth.
We want to extend a huge thank you to our contributors from our Patreon, and anyone else who has had a hand in getting the ponds up and running – we couldn’t have done it without you all!