Belfast Lough in Northern Ireland like most estuarine systems in the UK and Europe once supported a prolific Ostrea edulis fishery. However, the oyster was considered locally extinct from the Lough by the early 1900s. Numerous ecological surveys of the over the next 100 years failed to document one living specimen. Recently, unsubstantiated sightings of solitary O. edulis along the Loughs intertidal were conveyed to the author. It was considered necessary to investigate these reports and as a result the presence of small assemblages of European flat native oysters was confirmed. Hypotheses as to why the oysters have returned unaided are discussed with the aim to investigate these at depth in the future.

像英国和欧洲的大多数河口系统一样，北爱尔兰的贝尔法斯特湖曾经支持多产的Ostrea edulis渔业。但是，到1900年代初期，牡蛎被认为已从Lough灭绝。在接下来的100年中，许多生态调查未能记录一个活的标本。近日，孤独的未经证实的目击食用牡蛎沿Loughs湖潮间被传达给作者。人们认为有必要对这些报告进行调查，结果证实存在少量欧洲扁平的本地牡蛎。讨论了为什么牡蛎无偿归还的假设，目的是在将来进行深入研究。