NATIVE oysters have been purified in Brightlingsea for the first time in almost half a century.

Keen fisherman Gary Humm, owner of Brightlingsea Boat Maintenance, set about on a project last year aiming to bring back the glory days of Brightlingsea’s fishing industry.

He invested about £50,000 into the project, which will see oyster and lobster hatcheries created in a building at his yard in the Shipyard Estate.

Working with Morgan Marine and researchers from the University of Essex, Mr Humm has now ran the first successful test to purify a batch of oysters on the site.

It moves him one step closer to his dream of getting oysters back on the menu for visitors to the historic coastal town.

Mr Humm said: “We have run the first test for Tendring Council and it came back with a fantastic reading. The trial went better than we expected.

“You are allowed 238 particles of e-coli and other microbes but we managed to get the reading down to -18.

“So far so good and it is the first batch of oysters to be purified in the town since the Big Freeze in 1963.

“It is quite a historic moment for us.”

He added: “We are running two more tests for the council and once they are done we will get our certificate meaning we can start selling oysters to the public locally.”

Although Mr Humm has big plans for his new sustainable fisheries, he plans to start small.

Eventually he hopes to be able to invite schools from the area down to learn more about oysters, lobsters and fishing in Brightlingsea.

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He said: “This has been my dream for a long time so I am delighted with the progress.

“There are now some new fishermen working out of Brightlingsea too. It appears the good times are on there way back to the town.

“It will be a small scale thing to start with then we will move forward as we progress.”

Visit facebook.com/Brightlingsea-fresh-fish-113589230335811 to find out more.