EVENTS

Science Public Lecture Series: From Muddy Waters to Super Oysters: A Hong Kong Story of Innovation

MWT6, 1/F, Meng Wah Complex, Main Campus, HKU

  Abstract For centuries, Hong Kong’s native oyster, an endemic and historically important species, has been farmed as a tasty, nutritious white-meat delicacy in the muddy waters of Deep Bay and along the South China coast. This century, our Hong Kong oysters have tolerated rapid industrial growth along coastal areas and associated coastal habitat changes, including climate change, pollution and eutrophication, but at the huge expense of their deserved economic value. Our collaboration with growers and industry produced a major breakthrough: a multiple stress-resilient and climate-change-tolerant super strain, HKU's Super Oyster. Today, growers have started earning more and looking forward to year-round harvests in salty coastal waters, thanks to a non-reproductive triploid oyster. In response, government and industry have joined forces to chart a sustainable farming path amid climate change. Come witness "HKU's Super Oyster", a climate-crushing, carbon-sucking, heritage-saving local delicacy, born in Deep Bay and bred by HKU scientists.   For enquiries, please contact science@hku.hk.