Provisioning of Mussel Seed and Its Efficient Use in Culture

Abstract

Mussel culture largely depends on seed and feed from the natural environment. This paper focusses on seed provisioning and efficient use of these resources in mussel production. Approaches and technologies for seed supply and efficient use of seed in mussel production are described for the different culture techniques. This includes potential interactions and conflicts with the natural environment. Three methods are used to provide seed: wild harvest, use of suspended collectors and hatchery production. Harvest of wild seed from seaweed (in New Zealand) or natural beds is still a major source for culture in some areas, costs are low but provisioning is often unreliable. Most research concerning spat collection deals with comparison of different types of suspended collectors, settlement cues and problems with biofouling. Hatchery seed is more expensive, but hatcheries provide the opportunity for selective breeding and triploid production giving the product an added value. The challenge is to bring hatchery production costs more in line with the actual sale value of mussel seed. Monitoring genetic diversity can give insight in whether collector seed or hatchery seed growth and survival is negatively affected by reduced diversity. Grow-out occurs in bottom culture, bouchot culture and off-bottom longline and raft culture. In bottom-culture, the focus is on developing better seeding techniques, predator control and optimizing culture practices such as timing of relay, substrate use and harvest. For bouchot culture, technical developments are directed to mechanical methods to increase efficiency in size grading, restocking, harvesting and processing. Innovation in growing-out techniques for longline and raft culture are directed towards the investigation of optimal stocking densities, and on material type and configuration of farms. Production efficiency increases from bottom culture to bouchot culture, to rope and raft culture and are related to the sources of mortality and differences in growth rate. Growth rate of mussels is higher in off bottom culture than in on bottom culture and higher when submerged than in intertidal. Mussels from the Perna genus are found to have a higher growth rate but a lower production efficiency than mussels from the Mytilus genus. Efficient use of seed in mussel culture should aim at a reduction of mussel

The decline of mussel aquaculture in the European Union: causes, economic impacts and opportunities

“…mussel production per volume of spat) is related to the differences in mortality and growth rate. It increases from bottom culture to ‘bouchot’ culture, to longline and raft culture (Kamermans & Capelle 2019). Growth rate of mussels is higher in off‐bottom cultures, and higher when mussels are continually submerged than in inter‐tidal zones (Kamermans & Capelle 2019).…”

“…It increases from bottom culture to 'bouchot' culture, to longline and raft culture (Kamermans & Capelle 2019). Growth rate of mussels is higher in off-bottom cultures, and higher when mussels are continually submerged than in inter-tidal zones (Kamermans & Capelle 2019). Rafts require a minimum depth of 8-10 m to be efficient (FIgueiras et al 2002;Labarta & Fernández Reiriz 2019).…”

Determination of the growth performance of Mytilus galloprovincialis in nets at Gökçeada Island

“…Likewise, longline is the most used culture method for mussel cultivation in the world. It is applied by hanging the raft culture or by releasing the collectors into the water (Kamermans & Capelle 2019). The nets are usually used on the longline for the settlement of the mussel spat.…”

Forecasting mussel settlement using historical data and boosted regression trees

“…Global mussel aquaculture involves 9 different species within 2 genera (Mytilus and Perna), in addition to a relatively smaller production of 2 other myti lids in South America (Aulacomya atra and Choro mytilus chorus). For aquaculture of all of these species, juvenile seed-stock (referred to as 'spat') are typically collected either from natural substrata (Alfaro et al 2010, Kamermans & Capelle 2018 or from artificial settlement surfaces deployed in the water column (Pérez Camacho et al 1995, Lauzon-Guay et al 2005, Díaz et al 2014. Despite some advantages of this practice, mainly relating to cost-efficiency, constraints on wild spat supply, or uncertainty in terms of the timing and magnitude of spat availability, can lead to insufficient juveniles to meet industry demand (Jeffs et al 1999, Kamermans et al 2013.…”