It spreads quickly:

In 2009, a white shell was discovered in the Oslofjord for the first time. One shell can hatch 200 million eggs during the summer.

Since then, many swimmers have exclaimed “Oh!” When they went into the water, many feet were opened.

Stinging Pacific oysters spread by leaps and bounds.

– There are tons along the beaches. And to everyone who goes swimming this year, yes, there is more this year than last summer. There are larger quantities out there and they can be found in several places now, Dag-Roal Wisløff says.

Wisloff is an ecologist and advisor to the Oslofjord Outdoor Council. For five years, he worked to, among other things, reduce the large quantities of this type of shellfish.

For several years, municipalities around the Oslo Fjord have made efforts to remove them.

Oslo municipality has not done anything yet. for now.

On Thursday, Wisloff met with the Oslo municipality in Bygdøy. Now the municipality of Oslo is going to wade into the water to remove malicious Pacific oysters.

Sharp shower stains

Like humans, clams thrive in water when temperatures rise.

– It’s a bad mix. Because where we love to swim, oysters also thrive there. It thrives in warm, sheltered bays, sheltered from wind and sea, Wisloff says.

He reviews a dead shell he just picked.

This dead shell alone has received eight new Pacific clams since last year.

Oslo Municipality now gives NOK 10,000 to sports teams and outside organizations for oyster picking.

– We didn’t get a complete overview so we are in the process of mapping Pacific oysters in Oslo municipality. But we see large volumes and they are increasing. It’s not good for bathers, says Justina Krajczyk Blikset, chief engineer at the Norwegian Urban Environment Agency and project manager for oysters in the Pacific.

Destroys food dishes

It’s not just bathing Norwegians whose summers are spoiled by Pacific oysters.

Mussels are losing competition to clams. It has consequences.

It controls other species, especially mussels, which are an important food dish for birds.

– Shouldn’t you start earlier?

– Yes, but, unfortunately, we did not have the funds for this. Now we have money and we also know what to do with it. What we choose now will be used as a resource, not as a waste, she says.

Pacific oysters in the Oslo Fjord are too polluted to be used as food, according to Blixit. However, they have other plans with the missiles to be picked up.

– We are now starting a pilot project that is looking into the possibility of using these products to improve soils or various building materials.

fell into the ocean

According to ecologist Wisløff, clams are here to stay. Although many tons are harvested each year, it is only a drop in the ocean on a national scale.

– At the national level, it has no significant impact. But in areas such as beaches or areas with other natural values, it will have a good effect. Then you can keep the population in check locally, he says.

– But it should happen regularly. If not, we risk that in the end it will be impossible to swim from the shore. It is a shared responsibility to take care of the beaches.