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THE OXFORD PRIZE OF MALACOLOGY

The Oxford Prize for Malacology 2017

Luke is member and part of the scientific committee of the Native Oyster Restoration Alliance.

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Native Oyster Restoration Alliance member 

Luke is member of the of Native Oyster Network.


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Native Oyster Network member

Luke is a Marine Biologist fighting to restore the oyster reefs along the coast of England. Join his mission and donate today for healthy oceans.

Luke Helmer

Blue Marine Foundation

Blue Marine Foundation’s Podcasts: Blue Oysters

Donate to Luke - Marine Biologist Working for Healthy Oceans

SDG 14 Life Below Water

## In short
Luke is a Marine Biologist working to restore the overexploited native oyster reefs along the coast of the UK. These reefs are crucial habitats for hundreds of species and the oysters are critical for healthy, clean oceans.  

**Growing up by the water**
I grew up on the south coast of England and have always felt passionate about the marine environment that surrounds me. Studying marine biology at the university was an obvious choice for me. That’s where I first got involved in a project working with oysters and their effect on biodiversity. I finished my PhD in 2019, since then, I've worked as a Scientific Officer for BLUE's Oyster Restoration Project.

**No oysters = destroyed oceans**
Oysters are a key species for maintaining the health of our oceans: they filter and clean water, provide habitat for hundreds of species and reduce the impacts of excess nutrients. However, the oyster population has declined significantly in the UK due to overfishing, diseases and several environmental pressures. If we lose the oysters, we lose other species as well, making fisheries collapse and the water quality degrade, having huge socioeconomic effects on the people depending on the ocean.

**Restoring lost oyster reefs**
We work using a range of techniques to restore this valuable species. To protect the oysters, we put them in nurseries in the water where they reproduce and release millions, or even billions, of juvenile oysters. We also re-seed the seabeds that they live around to create a healthy marine habitat. Over the last five years, we have restored 69,000 native oysters across 12 restoration sites. Over the next years, we aim to restore millions of oysters. We also conduct community outreach, using volunteer programs and school visits to raise awareness of the importance of this cornerstone species.

## My organization
BLUE is filling a niche in the NGO world, enabling marine conservation to happen fast and effectively. What differentiates BLUE is that we are well connected and determined; we seize opportunities as they arise and get things done. We forge new partnerships and challenge the status quo.

BLUE works using a combination of top-down intervention to improve governance of our seas and bottom-up project delivery to help local communities who are at the front line of ocean conservation.

Our key strategic interventions are as follows:

- Securing marine protected areas to ensure the protection of at least 30% of the ocean by 2030.
- Developing models of sustainable fishing proving that low-impact fishing benefits marine life, local fishers and communities.
- Restoring marine habitats to revive and protect vulnerable and threatened species and to sequester carbon.
- Tackling unsustainable fishing by highlighting poor practice and developing solutions.
- Connecting people with the sea and enhancing ocean understanding across generations.

**Our mission**
BLUE aims to restore the ocean to health by addressing overfishing, one of the world’s biggest environmental problems.

Our vision is a healthy ocean forever, for everyone. We are dedicated to creating marine reserves, restoring vital habitats and establishing models of sustainable fishing.

BLUE’s mission is to see at least 30% of the world’s ocean under effective protection by 2030 and the other 70% managed in a responsible way.

**The crisis**
Overfishing represents a major food security issue and has devastating consequences for the fragile biodiversity of our planet.
Our oceans are in crisis. Around 90 % of commercial fish stocks are fully or over-exploited and 90 % of large, predatory fish are gone. Marine life is under threat from climate change, acidification, pollution, invasive species and plastic. But arguably the greatest threat of all is from overfishing because oceans stripped of all their life will have even less resilience to the other threats. It is the complex web of marine life in the oceans that enables them to absorb nearly half the world’s carbon dioxide and produce half our oxygen. Overfishing, therefore, threatens the future of humanity.

**Our impact**
2010 
- In 2010, BLUE, with support from the Bertarelli Foundation brokered a deal to enable the creation of what was then the largest marine protected area (MPA) in the world around Chagos in the Indian Ocean.

2012
- In 2012, BLUE partnered with the government of Belize and the Bertarelli Foundation to protect the Turneffe Atoll in Belize, an area rich in biodiversity and CO2 absorbing mangroves.

2015
- In 2015, BLUE and the Great British Oceans coalition secured a government manifesto commitment to create a “Blue Belt” around all 14 UK overseas territories, hailed as “the greatest conservation commitment by any government ever”.
- In 2015, the Great British Oceans coalition, of which BLUE is an active part, secured a UK government commitment to create the world’s largest marine reserve around Pitcairn in the Pacific.
- BLUE launched Reserve Seafood – an innovative label to celebrate the success of sustainable fishing in Lyme Bay and help fishers earn more from their catch.
- BLUE’s research on bass resulted in EU-wide measures to protect the stock.

2016
- In 2016, BLUE secured the creation of a no-take zone in 52.6 % of Ascension Island’s waters.

2017
- In 2017, BLUE, as part of the Great British Oceans coalition, secured an even stronger manifesto commitment from the UK Government ahead of the June 2017 election to protect over four million square kilometres of ocean around the UK overseas territories.
- In the summer of 2017, broodstock oysters in BLUE’s Solent Oyster Restoration Project spawned, releasing millions of larvae into the Solent.

2018
- BLUE spearheaded a social media campaign to encourage the public to tweet and email their MPs, resulting in 285 MPs from eight political parties signing up to the Blue Belt Charter by the end of 2018.
- The UK Government announced a target of 30 % of ocean protected by 2030, aligning with BLUE’s long-term strategy.
- Azerbaijan declared the first MPA in the Caspian Sea, the largest inland body of water on the planet. The new MPA will seek to protect six significant marine species on the brink of extinction.

2019
- BLUE published its ground-breaking four-year Potting Study, commissioned by Defra, which evidences sustainable potting levels in Lyme Bay as a model for crab and lobster management UK-wide.
- Following BLUE’s #StopElectricFishing campaign, undertaken in collaboration with Bloom Association, the European Parliament’s Committee on Fisheries voted to ban electric pulse fishing in EU waters.
- With support from BLUE, 100 % of the waters around Ascension Island were designated a marine reserve, creating the largest fully protected marine reserve in the Atlantic, an area nearly the size of France.


In short
Luke is a Marine Biologist working to restore the overexploited native oyster reefs along the coast of the UK. These reefs are crucial habitats for hundreds of species and the oysters are critical for healthy, clean oceans.

Growing up by the water
I grew up on the south coast of England and have always felt passionate about the marine environment that surrounds me. Studying marine biology at the university was an obvious choice for me. That’s where I first got involved in a project working with oysters and their effect on biodiversity. I finished my PhD in 2019, since then, I've worked as a Scientific Officer for BLUE's Oyster Restoration Project.

No oysters = destroyed oceans
Oysters are a key species for maintaining the health of our oceans: they filter and clean water, provide habitat for hundreds of species and reduce the impacts of excess nutrients. However, the oyster population has declined significantly in the UK due to overfishing, diseases and several environmental pressures. If we lose the oysters, we lose other species as well, making fisheries collapse and the water quality degrade, having huge socioeconomic effects on the people depending on the ocean.

Restoring lost oyster reefs
We work using a range of techniques to restore this valuable species. To protect the oysters, we put them in nurseries in the water where they reproduce and release millions, or even billions, of juvenile oysters. We also re-seed the seabeds that they live around to create a healthy marine habitat. Over the last five years, we have restored 69,000 native oysters across 12 restoration sites. Over the next years, we aim to restore millions of oysters. We also conduct community outreach, using volunteer programs and school visits to raise awareness of the importance of this cornerstone species.

My organization
BLUE is filling a niche in the NGO world, enabling marine conservation to happen fast and effectively. What differentiates BLUE is that we are well connected and determined; we seize opportunities as they arise and get things done. We forge new partnerships and challenge the status quo.

BLUE works using a combination of top-down intervention to improve governance of our seas and bottom-up project delivery to help local communities who are at the front line of ocean conservation.

Our key strategic interventions are as follows:

Securing marine protected areas to ensure the protection of at least 30% of the ocean by 2030.
Developing models of sustainable fishing proving that low-impact fishing benefits marine life, local fishers and communities.
Restoring marine habitats to revive and protect vulnerable and threatened species and to sequester carbon.
Tackling unsustainable fishing by highlighting poor practice and developing solutions.
Connecting people with the sea and enhancing ocean understanding across generations.

Our mission
BLUE aims to restore the ocean to health by addressing overfishing, one of the world’s biggest environmental problems.

Our vision is a healthy ocean forever, for everyone. We are dedicated to creating marine reserves, restoring vital habitats and establishing models of sustainable fishing.

BLUE’s mission is to see at least 30% of the world’s ocean under effective protection by 2030 and the other 70% managed in a responsible way.

The crisis
Overfishing represents a major food security issue and has devastating consequences for the fragile biodiversity of our planet.
Our oceans are in crisis. Around 90 % of commercial fish stocks are fully or over-exploited and 90 % of large, predatory fish are gone. Marine life is under threat from climate change, acidification, pollution, invasive species and plastic. But arguably the greatest threat of all is from overfishing because oceans stripped of all their life will have even less resilience to the other threats. It is the complex web of marine life in the oceans that enables them to absorb nearly half the world’s carbon dioxide and produce half our oxygen. Overfishing, therefore, threatens the future of humanity.

Our impact
2010
In 2010, BLUE, with support from the Bertarelli Foundation brokered a deal to enable the creation of what was then the largest marine protected area (MPA) in the world around Chagos in the Indian Ocean.

2012
In 2012, BLUE partnered with the government of Belize and the Bertarelli Foundation to protect the Turneffe Atoll in Belize, an area rich in biodiversity and CO2 absorbing mangroves.

2015
In 2015, BLUE and the Great British Oceans coalition secured a government manifesto commitment to create a “Blue Belt” around all 14 UK overseas territories, hailed as “the greatest conservation commitment by any government ever”.
In 2015, the Great British Oceans coalition, of which BLUE is an active part, secured a UK government commitment to create the world’s largest marine reserve around Pitcairn in the Pacific.
BLUE launched Reserve Seafood – an innovative label to celebrate the success of sustainable fishing in Lyme Bay and help fishers earn more from their catch.
BLUE’s research on bass resulted in EU-wide measures to protect the stock.

2016
In 2016, BLUE secured the creation of a no-take zone in 52.6 % of Ascension Island’s waters.

2017
In 2017, BLUE, as part of the Great British Oceans coalition, secured an even stronger manifesto commitment from the UK Government ahead of the June 2017 election to protect over four million square kilometres of ocean around the UK overseas territories.
In the summer of 2017, broodstock oysters in BLUE’s Solent Oyster Restoration Project spawned, releasing millions of larvae into the Solent.

2018
BLUE spearheaded a social media campaign to encourage the public to tweet and email their MPs, resulting in 285 MPs from eight political parties signing up to the Blue Belt Charter by the end of 2018.
The UK Government announced a target of 30 % of ocean protected by 2030, aligning with BLUE’s long-term strategy.
Azerbaijan declared the first MPA in the Caspian Sea, the largest inland body of water on the planet. The new MPA will seek to protect six significant marine species on the brink of extinction.

2019
BLUE published its ground-breaking four-year Potting Study, commissioned by Defra, which evidences sustainable potting levels in Lyme Bay as a model for crab and lobster management UK-wide.
Following BLUE’s #StopElectricFishing campaign, undertaken in collaboration with Bloom Association, the European Parliament’s Committee on Fisheries voted to ban electric pulse fishing in EU waters.
With support from BLUE, 100 % of the waters around Ascension Island were designated a marine reserve, creating the largest fully protected marine reserve in the Atlantic, an area nearly the size of France.


Over 95 % of Europe’s native oyster beds and reef habitats have been lost due to overfishing and pollution, making this one of the world’s most endangered marine habitats. Luke is a Marine Biologist fighting to restore the oyster reefs along the coast of England and to preserve the health of the surrounding ocean.

Doctor, Marine Biologist & Habitat Restoration Specialist 

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