SG and SSPO – to t topics of the day ors respectively. d we hope you’ll
into oyster growing around the globe and also an overview of the Hungarian aquaculture industry, which is beginning to evolve from production of carps to higher value predatory fish. We hope you enjoy all the changes. FF
News Editor
Shellfish – innovation
has 0 years of the stry. Now ournalist, er afood magazine.
ry Board
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ons aculture
BY JANET BROWN H BROWN
Paul Wheelhouse is Scotland’s Minister for the Environment and Climate Change and is an MSP for the South of Scotland.
Janet Brown works to support and promote all aspects of sustainable shellfish culture and restoration via The Shellfish Team and edits The Grower.
TOPS crops The other side of the pond Janet H Brown reports on a novel development from New Zealand Can the Association of Scottish Shellfish Growers learn anything from the 8 f youAmerica’s order a rump steak good restaurant you prett y much know way Eastin aCoast Shellfish Growers Association is organised? what to expect; likewise with a salmon steak. But if you order an oys-
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ter in the UK you could get a variety of shapes or sizes, even condition. This is less the case in France, where they classify their oysters fairly strictly,r or in theB US, where products are often sold by the name of Robert Rheault – the more commonly the producer. known as ‘Skid’ Rheault (Rheault being But what if the grower could actually pronounced ‘row’) or Bob – setproduce up thethe oysters in perfect condition at a uniform shape and size, complete with an inbuilt labelling system East Coast Shellfish Growers Association ols that guarantees theand provenance, do this in a mechanised system? (ECSGA) in 2004 has been and its executive This is infor effect what Achim Janke can do with his Traceable Oysters Producdirector six years. d tion System (TOPS). Skid became involved in the idea of an asI should perhaps interest here in sociation becausedeclare he hadanbeen working asthat an I have known Achim since 1988 when he was student doing an theaquaculMSc course in Aquaculture and Fishoyster farmer in aastate without eries at Sti rling. He came with interesting prior experience in ture Management industry at the time – Rhode Island. that he had agriculture training and had rectory ‘I had to be very active on the state worked level toas an agronomist in various parts of the world. A background in agriculture seems to be quite a linking get things going,’ he said. ‘I established a state thread among commercially successful aquaculturists. growers’Herve association with a few allies, started asurer, Steve Bracken, Sunil Kadri and Ken Hughes Achim chose to Miguad, do his MSc project writing an industry newsletter andwith sentIan it Laing to all at MAFF, Conwy, which n: Andrew Balahura was his fi rst experience with bivalve larvae and may have been crucial for his the state legislators, brought in guest speakers wds wdowds@fi shupdate.com Publisher: Alister Bennett career path. from other states where things were going 0 Fax: +44 (0)well 131 551 7901 editor@fi shfarmer-magazine.com I next met him ine-mail: 2011a when he was manager and where nary negative word was of the Glenhaven Aquaculture Centre (GACL) in Nelson, part of the Cawthron Institute, leading the e.com www.fiheard. shupdate.com Eventually we got some traction and Insti tute’s oyster shellfi sh R&D programme in New Zealand. regulations thatEH5 were2DL holding back ettes Park, 496fixed Ferrythe Road, Edinburgh Since 2013, Achim has been working independently as a consultant in shellindustry.’ er’, P.O. Box 1, the Crannog Lane, Lochavullin Industrial Estate, Oban, Argyll, PA34 4HB fish hatchery biotechnologies and, in parallel, developing his TOPS patented 0) 1631 568001This led on to a larger consortium, with a system which produced its firsttogether large commercial in New Zealand Clockwise from top right: in number of growers getting at varioussize crop of world £95 including postage. All Air Mail. 2015. ECSGA meeting; oyster; meetings and the idea of establishing an East rietors Wyvex Coast Media Ltd byhe Headley Brothers Ashford, Kent ISSNBas 0262-9615 Back in 2011 was already talkingLtd., about ‘single culture the way Dr Robert Rheault. Shellfish Growers Association was ban- seed’ forward, but this was not a term familiar to me and it seems to be a uniquely died about. They had seen how well organised anti podean way of Shellfish describingGrowers hatcheryAssociation produced spat. the Pacific Coast m A lot of New then wasthey basedcould on wild caught spat (nowa(PCSGA) had Zealand become,culture how effective days, more than 60 per cent is single seed hatchery) but the GACL had been be in meetings with regulators, how they working for 13 to 14 years on family based selecti on of oysters, and also focused government research dollars toward using triploids to– allow for year-round key problems they wanted that. marketing of quality oysters. Once on was normal, safeguarding the seed the farmer Whilehatchery setting producti up the ECSGA, Skid continued had purchased became important and systems to run his own company, farming and mar- were developed for security, and for oysters reducingtrading the amount of husbandry time required. keting as Moonstone Oysters But modern single seed oysterRhode growingIsland, systems require management working out of Narragansett, interventi terms of regular size grading in and adjusting of stocking and he isons stillinan adjunct faculty member density, which means increasing the University of Rhode Island’s Department numbers of containers. This grading (and adjustment of numbers) is essenof Fisheries and Aquaculture. He established tialResearch because with growth and increase of biomass in the East Coast Shellfish Institute the containers, crowding and has been successful in attracting several sets in, leading to reduced and uneven water exchange and, consequently, variable food and oxygen supply to individual oysters. 12 And these resulting disparities in growth only increase with the increasing biomass so they have to be regularly graded and thinned. Oyster growers aiming at top quality product com012-013_ff03.indd 12
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substantial federal research grants to address critical industry research priorities. How has the ECSGA grown and is it still growing? We grow in membership by about 10 to 20 per cent a year and we had a sharp increase this past year, but we still only have a small fractionpage of from the top: industry This Meatyas members. Of the estimated 1,300 farms on the East Coast, we only have about 15 per cent. The nature of the industry 10-month-old TOPS is such that many farmers are very small, part-time operations who oysters;bagging TOPS won’t pay dues. There oysters after stripping are few large farms, and several of these believe they don’t need to join an association. They can hire their own lobbyist. from growing rope; What are the main issues facing ECSGA? uniform quality; monly acceptdealing spending a lotshellfish of time sanitation and effort to We spend a lot of time and energy with mechanised provide equitable growing conditi ons. (Tryingoftomy issues. VibrioAchim parahaemolyticus control seems to dominate much attachment; avoid this by stocking at lower densiti essodoes time. We are also trying to rectify the trade war with the EU we not can Janke Opposite from top left: work with a non-motile oyster. They will tend to restore some of the lucrative connections we had in EU markets five Hanging out seeded be quickly moved by wave acti on to form piles yearsinago. We are trying to get acknowledgement for the ecosystemat rope Croisilles one end of thecredit container so presenti ngare theconsame services we provide through nutrient trading, and we Harbour, New problem but without the economies of scale.) stantly working to improve water quality and expand harvest areas. Zealand; harvest of Once the 25-35mm size they Are there different inthe theoysters ECSGAare or past are members mainly continuous lonnglinechapters need increasing numbers of growing containers oyster TOPS folk? oysters grown to market andoyster this can We represent about 60for pertaking centthem clam up farms, 40 persize cent farms in NZ; Aaron Parnell represent as much as 90-95 per cent of an oyster and there is a nascent mussel industry. of Marlborough grow-out system – and they still all I have heard you talk at farm’s conferences about the importance ofneed lobbyOysters with TOPS grading to ensure the product is grown evenly, ing – what do you advise? oysters on frame. with a good shape and plenty of meat inside. It is really important to ensure that the regulators don’t put you out of There is considerable investment in all these business. If you are not involved 3 in the process of writing the regulaholding containers and while some systems tions, then the law of unintended consequences dictates that they will present advantages in terms of reducing handling probably hurt you if you don’t protect yourself. You need to participate to some extent, with fewer problems with fouling in the scientific research, the public outreach and the education of your and providing conditions for more even growth legislators. By demonstrating the growth in green jobs, the sustainable 08/02/2013 11:24:01 when compared to the traditional pillow and seafood production and the ecosystem benefits, we can enlist the help rack system, they all need grading and this is time of politicians when the regulators get crazy, or if we have a need of reconsuming and costly. search dollars. Educating the legislators is a constant task. There is huge Achim is passionate about oyster quality so turnover and they know nothing about your industry. If you don’t have the whole driving force behind the TOPS system time to do it then you need to pay someone to do it for you. This is why is providing the optimal growing conditions for busy professionals are members of trade associations. each oyster. Is export a major interest for your growers? There is also the incentive to be able to prove We are experiencing an explosion in the market for oysters right the provenance of a cultivated product when now, so there is not a lot of surplus production to send overseas, but mere external packaging can be copied. This has already been a problem for New Zealand shellfish www.fishfarmer-magazine.com in some export markets, and the risks associated with an inferior and potentially unsafe product being sold under a counterfeit label is severe and can cause long term damage to its reputati on. 06/03/2015 10:29:56
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