A sustainable farm growing seaweed and oysters under the sea around the St Davids Peninsula can continue its ground breaking work thanks to overwhelming public support.

Câr-Y-Môr community Benefit Society (CBS) set up two trial restoration ocean farms, the first of their kind in Wales, in Ramsey Sound in August last year following years of preparation and local people volunteering their time and expertise.

The farms consist of 90,000 juvenile native oysters and 300m of seaweed lines and there are plans to expand the business into growing mussels this year.

This kind of ocean farming is seen as one of the answers to food shortages and climate change as well as generating local jobs and improving the nation's diet.

Câr-Y-Môr also has plans to train people to operate Solva Seafoods and to set it up as the start of a seafood market in St Davids this spring, coronavirus restrictions allowing.

There are hopes that the trial farms will pave the way for a three-hectare restorative ocean farm being established locally, with others being developed around the Welsh Coast in the next five years.

However, late last year the whole project was in jeopardy. Due to pressures from Covid and Brexit the CBS had not been able to access grants and progress beyond March 1 was looking unlikely.

Câr-Y-Môr launched a pioneer share offer in a bid to raise the £150,000 it needed to continue the scheme.

To date the CBS has raised £50,000 through the share offer, enough to keep the project afloat.

"We're really pleased to announce that because of all the amazingly generous investment we've received, we have achieved our minimum target of 50k on our pioneer share offer," said said Câr-Y-Môr's Owen Haines.

"Câr-Y-Môr's vision is to create jobs producing sustainable and local seafood while simultaneously improving the coastal environment and people's diets and wellbeing.

"The investment into the Câr-Y-Môr project has been humbling to say the least, we've been blown away by the generosity. Thank you everyone for seeing its potential. "