Oyster nursery proposed for Tees Estuary
Tees Rivers TrustA stretch of shoreline has been chosen as a proposed site for an oyster nursey.
The Tees Rivers Trust said it planned to install native oysters - fixed in bags on steel frames - in an area in the Tees Estuary as part of a project monitoring how the molluscs survive and grow in local conditions.
Last year, about 20 oyster reef cubes containing 4,000 European native oysters were released off the north-east coast.
The trust said the pilot would help to build evidence whether the Tees could "support future oyster restoration at a larger scale".
Oyster nurseries have previously been installed in Sunderland and reef deployments have taken place off the coast at Whitburn in South Tyneside.
Oysters were a large part of local culture in the 1800s, with oyster saloons in Tynemouth and specialist fish markets in South Shields.
There was also an oyster bar in Durham in 1901 and several oyster merchants in Newcastle in 1863.
The rivers trust said it would set up the nursery later in the year.
"By starting with a controlled nursery site, we can learn more about what conditions are needed for oysters to thrive, and use that knowledge to inform the next stages of restoration in the estuary," the trust added.
