In Britain’s oldest recorded town of Colchester, they’vebeen fishing native oysters since the Romans arrived 2,000years ago. Since that time, the waters of the BlackwaterRiver, part of the Greater Thames Estuary, have been richwith the shelled delicacies that now grace the tables ofsome of London’s more fashionable restaurants.

Such is the history of the fishery that even today the Mayorof Colchester, in keeping with a tradition that dates back tothe 1500s, sails down the river to Mersea in the first week ofSeptember to cast the first dredges that officially open theoyster season. This is followed in October by a grand civicOyster Feast where dignitaries from around the country areinvited. Today it is the soap and sports stars who are aslikely to be invited as the High Sherrifs and councillors inthis modern town of around 180,000 which include Londoncommuters, retail, manufacturing and tourism workers and,of course, fishermen.

The centre of the region’s thriving oyster fishery is situated10 miles from Colchester on the small island of Mersea,separated from the mainland by a small channel. Bothnative and rock (gigas) oysters are cultivated in the shallowcreeks leading from the Blackwater where warm summer seatemperatures and nourishment from the nearby marsh areperfect for the oysters.

The amount of certified sustainable seafood

available worldwide continues to increase as

more and more fisheries, driven by consumer

and retail demand, obtain the blue tick of

approval from the Marine Stewardship council.

Lesley Smeardon finds out how focusing on

good fishing practices can maintain livelihoods,

support modern day profits and improve

environmental quality.

IN A WORLD OF OYSTERSHERITAGE PEARLS HERITAGE PEARLS IN A WORLD OF OYSTERS

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www.coastnet.org.uk/theedge | December 2009The Edge

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The Tollesbury and Mersea Native Oyster fishery itself isfairly small with a catch of around 60 metric tonnes aseason. At one point there would have been around 150boats dredging the Blackwater but today only around 20fishermen are part of the fishery.

The Tollesbury and Mersey native oyster

fishery is hoping to make history by

becoming Britain’s (and maybe the world’s)

first recognised sustainable oyster fishery.

Says seventh generation oysterman, Richard Haward,Director of the Tollesbury and Mersey Native Oyster FisheryCompany: “My family has been growing oysters in these shallow creeks since 1792 when William Hawardsailed to deliver oysters to London’s Billingsgate Market.There have been a lot of changes since then. In my workinglife I’ve seen native oyster stocks decline for many years before recovering in the 1980s when TBT(tributyltin) antifouling was banned. As a company we’vehad to adapt our husbandry methods to protect against theoyster disease Bonamia and we’ve had to grow the morecommon gigas (rock) oyster which now spawns in the wildin order to make a good living which we can’t do on native oysters alone.”

The fishery is hoping to make history once more bybecoming Britain’s (and maybe the world’s) first recognisedsustainable oyster fishery through certification with theMarine Stewardship Council (MSC). Funding for the processhas been provided by WWF and HSBC, with advice andguidance through the certification process from fisheryexperts within CoastNet.

The case for certification is compelling as Giles Bartlett,Fisheries Policy Officer at WWF, points out. “Globally 76%of fish stocks are fished above the Maximum SustainableYield (MSY), which is a shocking statistic. In Europe, whereyou might expect the situation to be better, 88% are fishedpast MSY, of which 30% are outside safe biological limits,perhaps not recoverable. This must change.”

Every year in September,Mersea Island holds itsannual oyster dredgingmatch that sees a wholecommunity brave the coldto participate or simplywatch the spectacle.

KEEPING THE TRADITIONRichard Haward, whose fisheryis undergoing MSCaccreditation, is a seventhgeneration oysterman whosefamily has over 200 years ofexperience growing oystersalong the Blackwater River.

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Colchester Mayor HenrySpyvee opened thematch in 2009 as hasbeen tradition since the1500s, casting the firstdredges aboard theForeman Smack‘Mermaid’.

The match lasted for two hours before the fleetsailed to Packing Shed island for the weigh-inand an oyster opening competition.

www.coastnet.org.uk/theedge | December 2009 magazineThe Edge

“Through Marine Stewardship Certification (MSC), we canimprove the management of fisheries globally, reducingthe likelihood of fish stock decline and greatly increasingthe chance of recovery. Equally, MSC certification willimprove other environmental impacts of the fisheries,such as the bycatch of seabirds, cetaceans and othermarine wildlife, as well as other fish, which are still far toohigh in many fisheries around the world.”

MSC certification has long been considered a motivator forsecuring a healthy and resilient fish population whileimproving socio-economic benefits of the fishery. Hawardcertainly recognises the benefits of certification: “MSCaccreditation will give recognition to how we grow ouroysters, which we have always considered to besustainable. It will also help to show that there are oystersother than the more recognised gigas out there. It mayeven enable us to increase prices. These haven't reallychanged in over 15 years.”

The process is well on the way with certification hoped tobe achieved by April 2010 but it’s been a slow process andwithout the funding from WWF and the technical helpfrom CoastNet, Haward is certain it would never havehappened. “A small industry like ours could not haveenvisaged funding the process. We were lucky to have hadfunding to undertake the pre-assessment which was ashort health check on our fishery, but had to wait sometime before we could find financial help and the expertadvice to complete the process.”

Dr Theresa Redding from CoastNet who is providing thetechnical expertise to guide the fishery through thecertification process says it’s hard for fisheries to do thisthemselves with often prohibitive costs. “It’s true that thecosts of certification are too high for many fisheries. Wehave been working with inshore fisheries that tend to bemore closely connected to the local coastal communityand very small scale. This means barriers to assessment arehuge: organisational capacity to manage the MSC process,volume of catch and therefore revenue to support thecosts are two.

HOW DO YOU EAT YOURS?Raw, cooked with lemon, with Tabasco, or not at all, it’s alla matter of personal taste. A native oyster has a muchstronger, more robust flavour where the mineral flavours ina Pacific or rock oyster, flavours are more subtle.

For the Mersea Oysterman, Richard Haward: “I prefer myoysters the 'natural way – just as they are'. A little lemon'sOK, but to me Tabasco or even shallot vinegar is too much.”

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“We help secure the much needed funding for assessmentand act as the liaison body between the fishery and thecertification process. Our role is to facilitate a smoothassessment process and reduce the burden on the fisheriesto organise interviews, data, publications and expertiseneeded by the certification body for both the pre-assessment phase (the general health check of the fishery)and the main assessment.

The Tollesbury fishery’s sustainability comes through avariety of factors including: size of haul, methods used,and an innate understanding of the need to ensure fishstocks increase or remain stable throughout the seasons to maintain the future of the fishery.

Looking long term at fisheries in general, Haward iscautiously optimistic. “Attitudes are changing and manymore fishermen are taking a longer term view but do needto see a financial benefit in changing their ways. What isgood is the change in public perception towardssustainability which could result in a higher value beingput on sustainable practices. This is especially the casesince there are now so many more sustainably-caught fish available.”

And change there has been. Since 2006, an increasedfocus among seafood buyers including major supermarketchains in Western Europe and the US has led to MSC-certified seafood on shelves. This, coupled with a publicdemand for sustainably-produced products, puts the drivefor sustainable fisheries into the hands of many.

Lesley Smeardon is editor of CoastNet’s online

magazineThe Edge.

WHAT’S IN A LABEL?It’s now 10 years since The MarineStewardship Council (MSC) startedindependently assessing fisheries againsta developed environmental standard forsustainable and well-managed fisheries.After successful assessment a fishery is

able to attach the worldwide blue tick MSC eco-labelonto their seafood which provides an easy way to helpconsumers support sustainable and responsiblefisheries. Today, there are over 50 fisheries around theworld that can carry the label on their products.

LOCAL ISSUES ON A WORLD STAGE The certification of the Tollesbury and Mersey Native

Oyster Fishery with the MSC is a local project that is part

of a much larger WWF initiative funded by banking giant

HSBC as part of its Climate Change Partnership. The

initiative focuses on increasing sustainability practices

along four of the world’s largest rivers: the Amazon,

Ganges, Thames and the Yangtze. And while issues may

differ, the environment and socio-economic benefits of

adopting sustainable fishing practices remain largely the

same the world over.

Liangzi Lake, situated along the Yangtze River in China,

was once the exclusive realm of self-employed fishermen.

With the explosion of people working in China’s

freshwater fishing industry during the 1990s, large scale

fish farm enterprises also began to work Liangzi Lake

increasing competition to unsustainable levels. Not only

conflict but environmental degradation began to increase

with underwater vegetation disappearing and fish stocks

depleted. WWF, along with the Chinese Academy of

Sciences has been working with the commercial farms

and small-scale fishermen to introduce a closed fishing

season and various measures to help restore underwater

vegetation and guarantee the lake’s many organisms have

time to reproduce. Improvements in the lake’s

environment have been notable resulting in higher yields

of premium value fish which has created more jobs for

fishermen and a significant increase in per capita income.

www.coastnet.org.uk/theedge | December 2009 magazineThe Edge

As WWF Fisheries Policy Officer Bartlett comments: “The consumer now has the power through purchasingbehaviours to directly influence and improve the globalmarine environment by putting MSC products in theirshopping basket. WWF in conjunction with CoastNet isworking with fisheries in the Thames to gain certificationof their fisheries, so that today’s consumers and futuregenerations can both enjoy its seafood, safe in theknowledge that it's sustainable.”

With good management and practice, the historic oysterfishery in Colchester may yet continue to prosper. A briefflick through its 2,000 year history demonstrates that ourmodern problems of overfishing, environmentaldegradation and changing culinary fashions are nothingnew to the fishery. In 1566, for example, a closed seasonwas declared to conserve stocks following a particular badperiod of overfishing. And the desire for oysters hascontinually flip flopped in and out of fashion over theyears – from cheap and common source of protein toluxurious delicacy.

For centuries, generations of fishermen have understood(but not always acted upon) the basic premise that lookingafter their livelihood through good management principles,conservation of fish stocks and an understanding of naturalenvironmental limits just makes sense. That is, if they wantto be fishing for the next 40 years and able to hand over tosubsequent generations.

Sustainability is in many ways a 21st century term for thatcommon sense, pragmatic, long term management. But itis one that hopefully, through adoption, will provide thefishing industry the necessary profits to make sustainablepractice the only realistic, enduring way forward.

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WWF has been working with fishing communitiesin China encouraging them to adopt sustainablefishing practices