Current distribution of the residual flat oysters beds (Ostrea edulis) along the west coast of France

• Main Authors: Pouvreau, Stephane, Cochet, Hélène, Bargat, Florian, Petton, Sebastien, Le Roy, Valerian, Guillet, Theo, Potet, Marine
• Format: Dataset
• Language: unknown
• Published: SEANOE 2021
• Subjects: Flat oyster beds; OSPAR marine habitat; Ostrea edulis; French coast; North East Atlantic
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.17882/79821; https://www.seanoe.org/data/00686/79821/

The flat oyster Ostrea edulis is a European native species that once covered vast areas in the North Sea, on the Atlantic coast and in other European coastal waters including the Mediterranean region. All these populations have been heavily fished by dredging over the last three centuries. More recently, the emergence of parasites combined with the proliferation of various predators and many human-induced additional stressors have caused a dramatic decrease in the last remaining flat oyster populations. Today, this species has disappeared from many locations in Europe and is registered on the OSPAR (Oslo-Paris Convention for the Protection of the Marine environment of the North-East Atlantic) list of threatened and/or declining species (see https://www.ospar.org/work-areas/bdc/species-habitats/list-of-threatened-declining-species-habitats). In that context, since 2018, the Flat Oyster REcoVERy project (FOREVER) has been promoting the reestablishment of native oysters in Brittany (France). This multi-partner project, involving the CRC (Comité Régional de la Conchyliculture), IFREMER (Institut Français de Recherche pour l’Exploitation de la Mer), ESITC (École Supérieure d’Ingénieurs des Travaux de la Construction) Caen and Cochet Environnement, has consisted of (1) inventorying and evaluating the status of the main wild flat oyster populations across Brittany, (2) making detailed analysis of the two largest oyster beds in the bays of Brest and Quiberon to improve understanding of flat oyster ecology and recruitment variability and to suggest possible ways of improving recruitment, and (3) proposing practical measures for the management of wild beds in partnership with members of the shellfish industry and marine managers. the final report of this project is available on Archimer : https://doi.org/10.13155/79506. This survey is part of the task 1 of the FOREVER, which took place between 2017-2021. Some previous data, acquired with the same methodology and within the same geographic area have been also added to this ...