Successful efforts to clear out shellfish pest

Efforts to clear the sea snail slipper limpets, which competes with mussels and oysters for food and space, saw 1,200 tonnes of mussels removed and beds re-laid with "clean" specimens in the Mena Strait between Anglesey and Wales' mainland.

The US shellfish were mistakenly brought to the Strait on baby mussels. Assembly officials say the clear out was successful, but it is too early to declare the area slipper-limpet free, BBC News reports.

A Welsh Assembly Government spokesperson told BBC News that although it appears that the industry was successful in removing the slipper limpets which were accidentally introduced in 2006, it is not possible to state categorically that there are no slipper limpets in the area, mainly because of the possibility that small numbers remain undetected.

"Given that situation, it would be premature for WAG to declare the area free of slipper limpets at this time," he told BBC News.