My name is Chris Sharpe and I have been involved in the oyster surveys since February 2019.
I joined FMC in the autumn of 2018, with no experience of formal marine conservation, besides years spent in, on and under the sea since a child, as well as many years playing in rivers and lakes.
My priority, having been involved in a range of previous lives, dustman, community worker, therapist, supervisor, groupwork and management development trainer, menswork practitioner and director – was to be involved in something that involved doing not talking or planning or managing......
I discovered my pragmatic and active niche, with the support of Meg and Fran and then found myself leading the FMC Pacific Oyster surveys! Training with and lots of support from Matt Slater of Cornwall Wildlife Trust and Sue Scott from the Helford group, and under the umbrella permissions of Natural England, this has unfolded to: so far 45 surveys, 64,169 invasive Pacific oysters culled and 246 volunteer sessions. I currently have over 70 volunteers on my ‘active' list.
Mostly, I love being on shore in the intertidal, sharing stories, science and skills with the survey teams, and making a practical positive difference.
We tend to go out monthly or fortnightly for two-hour sessions all around Carrick Roads. For further information on our citizen science projects check out our page here and contact me if you want to get involved at oystersurveys@falmouthmarineconservation.co.uk