Her discovery of live wild oysters in the Forth reverses their extinction announcement in that area made in 1957 due to overfishing. The discovery was remarkable and might lead to future commercial production of the wild oyster, scientists said.

"I put my wellies on and my raincoat and was walking along the slippery stones by the water's edge many times, and then out of the corner of my eye I saw what I thought could be an oyster, and the tide was still going out so I had to wait a while and - yes - it was a specimen of a native oyster,’‘ Ashton (right) explained.
flickr.com/photos/le_sloth/2558059485/

The Forth used to yield hefty amounts of oysters, but production is now  out of Loch Ryan in the southwest. "The Firth of Forth was once the major oyster fishery in Scotland, and at its peak produced over 30 million oysters a year, and they were exported all across Europe," Ashton told. As all Forth beach walkers know, the oysters shells still abound.

Roy Brett, chef and owner of the Ondine restaurant in Edinburgh, specialises in shellfish. He is optimistic at the prospect that Scottish east coast oysters might eventually appear on his menu."This is the best oyster because it actually tastes of the sea," he recalled.

Ashton and her colleagues at the University believe that the oyster discovery means nature is fighting back to replenish itself. "We thought that they had been overfished and it was pollution that had caused them to die out,’‘ said Janet Brown, also of the Institute of Aquaculture.

"Obviously some of them had survived and with improving water quality in the Forth there's no reason why we shouldn't be able to re-establish them."