Adopt a Chain of Oysters

Oyster Saves our Seas (Oyster SOS) at the Club

Shell to Hotels – building micro-habitats with oyster shells for the rehabilitation of marine biodiversity

A members-only opportunity to adopt a chain, conduct hands-on field work and learn with marine scientists.

WORDS: GRACE LEUNG | IMAGES: HONG KONG MARINE ECOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION / GRACE LEUNG

Since June 2019, Club has been in discussions to partner with Hong Kong Marine Ecological Association (HKMEA) and Professor Kenneth Leung’s team at City University’s State Key Laboratory of Marine Pollution (SKLMP) to launch ‘Oyster Saves Our Seas’ (Oyster SOS) project.

More than just a beloved delicacy, oysters are ‘ecosystem engineers’ that provide ecosystem services crucial for a healthy marine environment. Not only can they clean our seas through biofiltration, but they can also form reefs that provide habitat for marine life and protect our shoreline against storms. However, with 85% of oyster reefs lost globally, we need to save our oysters first, so that they can save our seas. The Oyster SOS project engages diverse stakeholders (academics, government officials, oyster & fish farmers, educators, NGOs, religious groups, etc.) and integrates ecological restoration, scientific research, STEM & conservation education, and public engagement to achieve this goal. As a leader in water sports, the Club is well recognised for its commitment towards protecting the marine environment while educating and inspiring its members on marine conservation. At the core of what we do, a healthy marine environment is indispensable. Given the Club’s positions at Kellett Island, Middle Island, and Shelter Cove, RHKYC and HKMEA believe by synergizing our strengths, we can help create a healthy and thriving marine environment for organisms and people to enjoy.

Initial plans to deploy cages of live oysters and oyster shells in RHKYC’s shores in Kellett Island, Middle Island, and Shelter Cove for a 12-to-18-month monitoring period were suspended given disruptions from social unrests and the various Covid related hurdles in the years that followed. Despite the frustrations and delays, all were not halted. The Club continued to engage members in a variety of educational and fun activities relating to oysters.

So that bring us to today! VERY soon we are going to offer members an opportunity to adopt a chain, conduct hands-on field work and learn with marine scientists. The following table shows our programme timeline and please note that if you do plan to sign up (when registrations open) we need you to commit to ALL FOUR dates. Look out for the weekly email for when we open registrations. Like with all good things, we have a limited amount of oyster chains so it will be first come first served.

Launch of programme and two sessions by the pontoon

1st monitoring 2nd monitoring 3rd monitoring Sunday 19 February Talks on oyster reef importance and biodiversity Workshop on oyster shell strings fabrication Deployment of oyster shell strings Saturday 25 March First-month monitoring of the trial sites Saturday 22 April Second-month monitoring of the trial sites Saturday 20 May Third-month monitoring of the trial sites