Oystercatchers are bold, noisy coastal waders facing welfare challenges from shellfish depletion, severe weather, and conflict with commercial shellfisheries.
Oystercatcher welfare is directly linked to shellfish availability. The depletion of cockle beds in the Wash and other key estuaries by commercial harvesting created welfare crises, with thousands of birds starving in severe winters when normal food sources were unavailable. Birds denied their specialist food source show elevated stress behaviour, reduced body condition, and in severe winters, death. Sustainable shellfish harvesting limits that account for oystercatcher food requirements are therefore a direct welfare matter.