DEME Participates in North Sea Oyster Reef Restoration Project
DEME and The Oyster Restoration Company (TORC) have successfully completed EuroReefs, a marine ecosystem restoration project in Belgian waters. Funded by the NextGenerationEU fund and commissioned by the Belgian federal public service responsible for the environment, the project installed 1,800 biodegradable bricks last week, each carrying at least one million European flat oyster larvae, totaling at least 1.8 billion larvae.
One Million Oysters on Biodegradable Bricks
The EuroReefs project involves the installation of 1,800 natural and biodegradable bricks loaded with European flat oysters (Ostrea edulis), totaling at least one million larvae (Ostrea edulis). These materials were loaded onto DEME's piston barge Vlaanderen VIII at the port of Ardersier in Scotland, before being deployed on the seabed at Hinderbanken, a gravel area dedicated to restoration. The project aims to promote the development of a healthy, self-reproducing reef.
This initiative follows previous pilot experiments and marks a significant step towards large-scale marine ecosystem restoration, combining expertise in biodiversity with offshore engineering and logistics capabilities.
European Funding and Public Procurement
The project was commissioned by the Belgian federal public service in charge of Health, Food Chain Safety, and Environment. Its funding comes from the NextGenerationEU fund, the European Union's post-pandemic recovery mechanism.
This contract adds to a series of new mandates won by DEME on the continent in recent weeks: port dredging in India (Ramayapatnam, contract signed on June 17), deepening works in Tunisia with the Merchant Marine and Ports Office (June 4), and the installation of 21 offshore turbines in Japan by its joint venture Japan Offshore Marine (May 29).
