Wilder Humber – a major seascape restoration initiative delivered in partnership by Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust, and Ørsted – has entered the next stage of its ambition to restore the native European flat oyster (Ostrea edulis) to the Humber Estuary.

In an exciting new step, the project is comparing the use of remote set oysters – a technique where oyster larvae are settled onto scallop shells near the restoration site, before they are deployed into the marine environment – alongside the traditional method of directly placing individual juvenile or adult oysters onto the seabed.

This experiment is taking place at Yorkshire Wildlife Trust’s Spurn Point nature reserve and aims to determine whether this innovative and cost saving method will help make oyster restoration more scalable for future reintroduction efforts.

Once home to vast oyster reefs estimated to have covered over 300 acres, the Humber Estuary supported a thriving population of native oysters. Historic overfishing, pollution, and disease have since devastated the species, leaving them fragmented and unable to recover naturally across the UK, and extinct within the Humber. Today, Wilder Humber is working to bring these ecological powerhouses back, with ambitions to reintroduce 500,000 native oysters to the estuary over five years.

As natural water filters, oysters help clean the sea by improving water clarity and reducing excess nutrients; oyster reefs are more than just collections of shellfish. They create vital nursery habitats for a wide range of marine life and act as natural coastal defences, helping to reduce erosion and stabilise sediments. In short, restoring oysters means restoring vital marine ecosystems.

Laura Welton, Native Oyster Restoration Officer at Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, said:

“Remote setting is an emerging technique with real and exciting potential to transform how we restore native oyster populations. It allows us to settle oyster larvae closer to where they’ll eventually live, reducing transportation stress and increasing their chances of survival."

“Trialling this alongside the traditional method gives us vital insights into how to scale up restoration more efficiently and effectively. This experiment is a key step toward restoring thriving oyster reefs in the Humber, across the UK, and beyond.”

Traditional restoration includes sourcing juvenile and adult oysters and placing them directly onto cultch (the mass of stones, broken shells, and grit on which an oyster bed is formed) on the seabed, where they can spawn over time and eventually form a reef. While widely adopted by restoration projects, this technique can be costly, logistically challenging, and stressful for the oysters in transit, potentially resulting in lower survival rates.

In contrast, Wilder Humber’s remote setting trial uses larvae from The Oyster Restoration Company’s hatchery in Scotland. These larvae were settled onto shell and initially grown on trestles at Spurn Point last summer. Now, as part of an innovative new phase, Wilder Humber is supplementing these oysters by deploying “Rapid Reefs” - larvae attached to shell in mesh bags - directly to the seabed, creating a ready-made living reef. This trial will compare the cost, effort, and survival outcomes of both methods to determine which offers the best solution for future large-scale restoration efforts.

Samir Whitaker, Biodiversity Lead Specialist at Ørsted, added:

“The Wilder Humber project embodies Ørsted’s commitment to an ecosystem approach to restoration – looking to promote the recovery of essential ecosystem processes and create functional, resilient habitats. By trialling remote setting alongside traditional oyster restoration methods, we’re exploring the most effective ways to revive native oyster populations and enhance the wider ecosystem in the Humber Estuary. This project forms part of our ongoing commitment to ensuring that offshore wind can be a powerful force for good – providing clean electricity at the same time as creating opportunities to regenerate nature.”

In another UK-first, the Wilder Humber project is reintroducing a unique mix of oyster age classes, including 1,200 eleven-year-old adults and 1,100 oysters aged three to five years, which were raised and monitored in an oyster nursery at Spurn Point, and around 20,000 days-old oyster larvae on shells delivered directly from the hatchery. By establishing a more natural age distribution, this approach aims to build a stronger, more resilient, and self-sustaining oyster population that is better equipped to withstand disease and begin reproducing sooner, helping to accelerate the restoration of thriving oyster reefs in the Humber estuary.

Andy van der Schatte Olivier, Marine Programme Manager at Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, concludes: 

"Our Wilder Humber restoration programme is taking a truly pioneering step in the UK’s marine restoration journey. This project is not only bringing back a lost species, but also demonstrating how innovation, collaboration, and nature-based solutions can tackle two of the greatest environmental challenges of our time: biodiversity loss and climate change. By restoring oyster reefs, we’re helping to store carbon, protect coastlines, and create thriving marine habitats."

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