Alternative Shellfish Species for Farming in the Northeast U.S.
Rob Hudson Adapted from Dale Leavitt Selecting New Species
Marketing ◦ Taste and Flavor ◦ Appearance ◦ Texture ◦ Market behavior ◦ Processing considerations Biology ◦ Growth rate ◦ Stocking density ◦ Feed availability ◦ Seed production ◦ Hardiness Adaptability ◦ Available sites ◦ Culture technologies ◦ Management systems ◦ Financial requirements Staple bivalve species and Potential alternative species Oysters: Eastern Oyster (Crassostrea virginica) Pacific Oyster (Crassostrea gigas) European Flat Oyster (Ostrea edulis, Belons if from that river in France) Olympia Oyster (Ostreola conchaphila) Kumamoto (Crassostrea sikamea)
https://flafsstudentsubunit.wordpress.com/2016/08/19/awe-schucks-an-oyster-tasting- Clams: guide/ Hard Clam (Mercenaria mercenaria) Geoduck Clam (Panopea generosa) Manila clams (Venerupis philippinarum) Soft Shell Clam (Mya arenaria)
Surf Clam (Spisula solidissima) Farm-2-Market Razor Clam (Ensis directus)
Blood Ark (Anadara ovalis) http://shellfish.ifas.ufl.edu/projects/genetic-stock- improvement-of-hard-clams/hybridization/ Potential alternative species (Northeast U.S.) Bay scallop (Argopecten irradians)
Sea scallop (Placopecten magellanicus)
Mussel (Blue mussel: Mytilus edulis)
Green sea urchin (Strongylocentrotus droebachiensis)
Sugar kelp (Saccharina latissima)
White leg shrimp (King prawn: Litopenaeus vannamei)
University of Maine graduate student Pamelia Fraungruber surveys one of the sea urchin release sites Bay Scallop (Argopecten irradians) Epifaunal bivalve ◦ Lives fast and dies young 2 yr life cycle A fragile species ◦ Highly mobile Harvest ◦ Wild caught with dredge or dip net ◦ Stocks have seriously declined in recent years ◦ Huge market established NOAA Fisheries: Northeast Fisheries Science Center Bay Scallop Culture History
China worked out details in mid-1980’s ◦ 26 scallops survived shipment in 1982 ◦ Spawned production of >300,000+ metric tons annually First serious attempt at commercial production in US by Rod Taylor – Fairhaven, MA in 1990’s Bay Scallop Culture Technology
Hatchery production is routine…. ◦ but sporadic Nursery culture ◦ Upwellers work fine Need to block outflow ◦ Floating cages also effective ◦ Need to keep densities low ◦ Prefer to byss to surfaces Nursery Raceway Color morphology Spat bags Spat bags Direct release to bottom
Being done extensively for restoration ◦ Stock at 5-10 ind/m2 Highly vulnerable ◦ Minimum release size of 35mm (~1 ½”) ◦ Better at 50 mm (2”) Tough to contain in one spot ◦ Fencing? Cage set up at site
Scallop cage Placing envelops into cages
Placing scallops in envelops Scallops in cages
Bay Scallop culture technology
Growout primarily using suspended culture Scallop culture technology Lantern Net Suspended culture
Need relatively deep water ◦ Should be suspended >6 ft below surface to reduce light for fouling control ◦ Suspended nets can be 4 to 6 ft long ◦ Cannot touch bottom or it opens door for predators Stocking density ◦ Minimize “knifing” (50% coverage) ◦ Predicated on size Knifing
Shell inserted between valves of adjacent scallop Damages the muscle Stocking Density Direct exposure
Ear-hanging Glue to plastic mesh Bay Scallop culture technology
Bottom Cage Floating Cage ◦ Taylor Float ◦ Floating Bag? Bottlenecks
Overwintering ◦ Significant problem Can be 75% mortality ◦ Do not touch in the winter (Feb-May) Wait for food to be plentiful in early summer ◦ Need site with Little silt, i.e. sand bottom High water flow (but not too high) ◦ Pushed growers to attempt bay scallops as a one season crop Market at 45-50 mm – as whole animal Bottlenecks
Seed availability ◦ Sporadic availability ◦ Usually not early enough in the season Want by mid-May (1-2mm) High labor ◦ Especially for suspended culture ◦ Need to be constantly on top of biofouling Not very efficient feeders Sea Scallop (Placopecten magellanicus) Epifaunal bivalve ◦ Deepwater/(very) coldwater species Largest wild scallop fishery in world ◦ majority harvested from MA to NJ area ◦ Harvested by mechanical dredges ◦ Overfishing a major problem in 1990’s with extensive offshore closures areas have since recovered Culture History
Two major efforts to investigate potential for commercial aquaculture and stock enhancement in New England ◦ Sea Scallop Working Group’s SeaStead (MA) ◦ Sea Scallop Stock Enhancement Project (ME) Followed up on pioneering work in the Maritimes of Canada Sea Scallop technology
Hatchery - a bottleneck ◦ Lo-o-o-n-g larval stage – up to 48 days ◦ Inconsistent ◦ No current hatchery production Wild spat collection is effective ◦ Currently a couple of start-ups in ME ◦ Seed available now Sea Scallop technology
Three growout strategies ◦ Bottom pens ◦ Bottom cages ◦ Suspended culture
Deep On Floating Suspended Shallow On Bottom Intertidal Bottom Bottom Pens
Small plastic mesh corrals ◦ (no top or bottom) Anchored to the bottom & seeded Worked in Canada but not so much here (ME) Required large seed - >3” Bottom Cages (Sea Stead)
Numerous attempts to use typical bottom cages ◦ Used low profile cages on a trawl line ◦ Truro Aquaculture Project used a 6’ tall cage Deploy in deep water ◦ >10 fathom (=60Ft.) Conflicts!!! Bottom cages (Maine) Other Bottom Cage attempts Stocking densities
Suspended Technology
Use conventional equipment ◦ Lantern net Success ◦ In Nova Scotia ◦ In Maine (maybe) No Success ◦ Massachusetts (conflict) Lantern Net culture Ear Hanging
Current effort in Maine Japanese machinery purchased Bottlenecks – Numerous!
In southern New England – need to be off-shore (i.e. cold water) ◦ Lots of heavy gear ◦ Expensive ◦ Regulatory environment still questionable Hatchery seed not available ◦ Spat collectors do work but laborious Slow-growing species ◦ Possibly 4 - 5 years to market ◦ ME people think it will be 2-3 years Bottlenecks – Numerous!
Can you compete on price with wild harvest fishery? ◦ Landed value ~$15 per pound shucked meats ◦ $1.00 per scallop? Develop a new market strategy ◦ Roe-on? ◦ Petite scallops? HABs ◦ Retain toxins for extended period of time? Blue Mussel (Mytilus edulis) History of blue mussel culture goes back to a shipwrecked Irish sailor off the coast of France Growers in Maine have been at it since 1970’s ◦ Started with bottom culture Major efforts in suspended culture renewed in the late 1990’s ◦ ME, NH, & MA Summary of mussel culture process Seed sources
Local seed is sourced from wild spat collection ◦ Have specially designed spat collecting ropes ◦ Not reliable Development of hatchery production is underway in region ◦ Similar to all other bivalves Aqualine LLC Blue Mussel Growout
Highly productive and relatively easy to grow Three technologies predominant in mussel culture in the northeast ◦ Bottom Culture – Dutch technology ◦ Suspended Culture Raft culture – Spanish Longline culture – Australia/New Zealand Bottom culture (Dutch Method)
Requires large expanse of bottom Semi-intensive ◦ Dredge seed from spat beds Seed ~ 20 mm ◦ 0.65 kg spat required for each 1 kg of market-sized mussel ◦ Plant seed between 1.5 & 3.5 kg/m2 Move to out-grow beds ◦ Manage for winter ice ◦ Final growout beds are hard sand to prevent sediment in tissue (purging) Dutch Mussel Production Bottom Mussel Production
Maximum production ~8kg mussels/m2 ◦ 22 metric tons (~15,000 lbs.) per acre Need to control predators (if possible) ◦ Crabs & starfish ◦ Normally lose 40-50% of crop to predation Must flush beds of silt between crops Limiting Factors
Wild seed availability ◦ Has become limiting for mussel farmers in the Netherlands ◦ Primary food item for many shorebirds Predation ◦ Must control predation (if possible) Starfish removal Crab trapping Purging ◦ If grown on soft bottom ◦ Pearl production Limiting Factors
The largest bottom mussel culture business in Maine went belly up in 2008 From the ashes of Great Eastern
Theo and Fiona de Koning started Acadia Mussel Farm ◦ Outside of Bar Harbor 160 acre farm using Dutch bottom culture technology Hollander & de Koning Mussel Culture - Bouchot
Originated by Irish sailor (Patrick Walton) shipwrecked on the coast of France in 1235 ◦ Constructed a net between two poles to catch birds ◦ Discovered that mussels grew on the poles Bouchot Mussel Culture
Not currently practiced in the U.S. Suspended (rope) Mussel Culture
Induce mussel spat to attach (byss) to ropes and hang from some structure ◦ Raft ◦ Longline Requires 0.05 to 0.3 kg spat to produce 1 kg market-sized mussel Attaching mussels to droppers
When young, mussels are highly mobile ◦ Move by attaching and removing byssal threads ◦ Also known as the “beard” in adult mussels Can place seed in vicinity of rope and they will attach ◦ Just need to hold in position for a couple of days Suspended mussel stocking Attaching mussel seed
Surround culture rope with mesh tube to hold mussels in place until they attach ◦ Socking comes in different mesh sizes – depending on seed size Mussels migrate out from inside socking as they byss to rope Mussel density ◦ 1” mussels can be socked at 150 spat/ft of rope (range of 100 – 300/ft) ◦ Will yield app. 8 lbs. mussels/ft Up to 17 lbs/ft Mussel Socking
Degradeable socking is convenient way to attach seed to rope ◦ Continuous rope encased in cotton mesh ◦ Insert seed between rope and cotton mesh with a socking machine ◦ Socking degrades in a month allowing spat to byss to rope Continuous socking machine Continuous Loop Mussel Culture Mussel drop-off
Major loss of mussels ◦ As mussels grow – weight overcomes byssal strength and clumps slide down rope and drop off ◦ Place stoppers in rope at 1 m intervals Raft Culture (Spanish Method)
Originated in Galicia, Spain Open-frame raft ◦ Mussels on droppers hanging from raft Mussel Raft Mussel Raft From the ashes of Great Eastern
Pemaquid Mussel Farms ◦ Former Great Eastern raft farmers ◦ Established in 2008 ◦ Started with 10 rafts scattered along Maine coast
Longline culture Two strategies ◦ Surface longline
◦ Submerged longline Surface Longline (Australian Method)
Used for both green and blue mussel in Australia Adopted in Maritime Provinces of Canada ◦ Primarily PEI & BC Shallow water system Submerged Longline (WHOI)
Recent effort for deepwater culture Dynamic longline technology Validated at the research level Currently being tested in pilot scale commercial production ◦ Block Island Sound Local mussel growout activity Mussel culture Mussel Droppers Mussel processing Mussel Seed production
In the northeast – no hatchery is currently producing seed ◦ Rely on wild spat collection Known areas with large mussel sets Deploy specialized materials on site to “catch” spat. Fuzzy ropes or artificial algae ◦ Move to growout at 12-20 mm West Coast – hatcheries are producing set mussel spat. Mussel Seed on a rope Bottlenecks Raft with Anti-Predator Net Bottlenecks
Mostly deeper water technology ◦ $$$$ ◦ Not a “small enterprise” Competition for market share ◦ PEI production well established ◦ There is demand for “local” product Pea crabs/Disease? Probably going to be a viable business within next five years. ◦ As we learn the technology Kelp Culture “Kelp” are large brown marine macroalgae species ◦ native to New England ◦ traditionally wild harvested for food The large brown kelps are a cold temperate group of marine macroalgae, o ~ 40 – 60 °F o Low competition from nutrients in winter For these reasons, the growing season for kelp is from fall to spring. https://static1.squarespace.com/static/52f23e95e4b0a96c7b53ad7c/t/52f78b0de4b 0374e6a0a4da8/1391954701750/OceanApproved_KelpManualLowRez.pdf Why grow it? Why grow it? MacroAlgae Biorefinery Why grow it?
Chrondus crispus Kelp culture in China
Currently, the yield of kelp from about 200,000 acres of farms is about 250,000 dry tons from about 2,000,000 wet tons, worth about 2 billion Yuan ($300 million USD). Kelp culture in China Kelp culture in China Kelp culture in China Kelp culture in China Kelp Culture
There are three commercially important kelp species in the region ◦ sugar kelp (Saccharina latissima) ◦ winged kelp (Alaria esculenta) ◦ horsetail kelp (Laminaria digitata) Sugar kelp (Saccharina latissima) is the main cultivated kelp species so far Sugar Kelp Kelp culture
Grown on submerged horizontal long lines on licensed sea farms ◦ from November to May ◦ making it a “winter crop”
The simple farm design, winter season, and relatively low startup costs allow for new and existing sea farmers to experiment with this newly developing type of aquaculture o 3 Acres » 9,000’ of kelp line » 45,000 lbs (5lbs/foot)
Kelp culture – NE timeline Heteromorphic life cycle Hatchery Production – Tissue Prep.
Collect reproductively active sorus tissue ◦ September Disinfect ◦ Scrape with razor blade ◦ Iodine wash (3%) for 30 seconds ◦ Rinse with filtered seawater Chill ◦ Dry tissue ◦ Wrap in paper towels ◦ Chill at 50oF for 14-24 hours Hatchery Production – Spore Release
Assess readiness of spore release 1,000 ml beaker ◦ 50oF filtered seawater ◦ Nutrients PES F/2 Sori in beaker ◦ 10-15 pieces ◦ Stir gently ◦ Maintain at 50oF ◦ Up to 1 hour for full release Hatchery Production – Spore Release
Count density of spores in beaker
Calculate setting density ◦ Avg 5,000 to 10,000 cells/ml Hatchery Production – Setting Spores
Spores set on string wrapped around 2” PVC Sterile practice Maintain at 50oF ~24 hours Hatchery Production - Nursery
• Water: Filtered to 5um Sterilized
• Temp: 50 °F
• Salinity: 28-32 ppt
• Light: 12L : 12D 25-150 umol/m-2s-1
• pH: 7.8 – 8.2
• Aeration: hepa filter
• Nutrients: PES F/2 Hatchery Production - Nursery • Water change every week – two tanks preferable Kelp sporophytes on thread
Day 26 Day 31
Day 37 Day 40 Kelp sporophytes on thread Seeding the farm Seeding the farm
The young sporophytes are outplanted on horizontal long lines Outplanting kelp sporophytes
Outplant in November
A line is passed through the seed spool
The seed line is spooled off around the line as it passes through
Keep tension in seed line Playing out the kelp sporelings Farm Maintenance
Keep lines from crossing
Assure anchors are holding
Weight lines as kelp becomes buoyant Kelp growth
Growth from November – April/May 5–10’ blade length Harvest ~ 5lbs/ft Advantages
Because kelp is a winter crop, it can be grown in the “off-season” ◦ when all oyster gear and activity is down for the winter Winter kelp farms have great potential in the region to provide ◦ a means for crop diversification ◦ a way to increase seafood production ◦ ecosystem services Bottlenecks o Developing market
o Difficult moving large quantities of product locally
o Price point for sales?
o Local growth? Bottlenecks
Local production potential?
6 experimental sites 2016-2017 Lower than expected production December – May ~0.5 lbs/ft
- Higher in salt ponds - May be higher with early planting - May be higher with growth into early summer