Happy ESTER, Happy Oyster, Happy Easter! April 08 2020
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Happy ESTER, Happy Oyster, Happy Easter!
Firstly, I want to send my best wishes in these unprecedented times and hope of the safety and wellbeing for you, your family and colleagues in the future weeks and months.
#HappyESTER
On a slightly happier note, the Fal Fishery Cooperative CIC successfully raised more than the ‘all or nothing target’ of £8,755 by reaching £9,140 through Crowdfunder and #SavingESTER
We have already purchased and taken delivery of a new laboratory microscope, so we can record larvae counts and estimate the first ‘hatchery populations’. We will firstly be looking to improve on the survival rate in the wild of 500,000/1 by holding hatchery stock in nursery tanks ashore and then study the growth and maturity of the juveniles over the next 3-7 years at the aquaculture site.
As we were successful with #SavingESTER the project is now ‘always on’ so we would be extremely grateful if you can become part of the next stage of setting up the King Harry Floating Aquaculture Site and in designing our purpose built aquaculture research vessel! (for which we have a plan to name her after a very distinguished individual who has already agreed to the naming, so she better be a fine ship!)
#SavingESTER has now become @SavingESTER on most social media channels so the journey on the ‘river’ to success can be followed and shared! Happy ESTER!
#HappyOyster
As with most businesses these are extremely uncertain times. As a solo fisherman and solo food producer I have continued to process and store live oysters since the end of the fishing season, but the delivery network has collapsed too so sadly I have decided to focus on a few local sales and temporarily close the website shop www.faloyster.co.uk. We can however then focus on getting all set up for the hatchery trials with our new pop-up laboratory!
But for the oyster they too get to #stayathome and as Tony in Jersey posted “probably creating 10 billion new oyster larvae this summer” Happy Oyster!
#HappyEaster
Well this probably going to be the hardest Easter for many of us, but I truly thank all of you who supported my ideas for many years and together we will make something positive come from the new perceptions we will all soon have, I hope the natural environment enjoys its freedom to breath and most of all I hope you all stay safe and well over the coming weeks, Happy Easter!
Take care! All the best and bye for now
Christopher Ranger
Artist, Mariner and Native Oyster Researcher