Oysters at ESC - volunteers required

Published 19:26 on 5 Mar 2026

Harbour Oysters is an initiative from Lottie and Poppy Johns, two local sisters - who spoke at the Club back in November - who are installing baskets of native oysters (Ostrea edulis) under pontoons and jetties to improve the water quality and boost local biodiversity.
On Tuesday 24 March at 19:00 hours we will be making oyster baskets in the Clubhouse and on Wednesday 25 March, 10:00 to 12:00 and 13:00 to 15:00 hours, we shall be putting the latest arrivals through a bio-security 'scrubbing' process at the Club, before they are installed in their new homes underneath our decking area.

If you'd like to take part, please sign up to volunteer for a session on the scrubbing day - Wednesday 25 March - or to help make oyster baskets - Tuesday 24 March.

Oysters are a keystone species; single oyster filters pollutants from around 150 litres of water per day creating a more habitable environment for other plants and animals. In the summer months, our oysters will breed and repopulate the lost wild stocks that were a key part of our Emsworth heritage. You can find out more about Harbour Oysters work and what a 'scrub' looks like on their Instagram and Facebook sites - just search for 'Harbour Oysters' - or via their website Harbour Oysters.