Alaska Shellfish Farming

7/29/2019 Alaska Shellfish Farming

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SHELLFISH FARMING IN ALASKA

By

Raymond RaLonde

Aquaculture Specialist

University of Alaska

Sea Grant Marine Advisory Program

[email protected]


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FARM LOCATIONS

Alaska

Anchorage

JuneauKodiakHomer

Ketchikan

Southeastern Alaska41 farmsSouthcentral

Alaska26 farms


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NUMBER OF PERMITTED

FARMS

1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 19951996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 20090

20

40

60

80


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HISTORICAL FARM INCOME

1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 19951996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 20090

200,000

400,000

600,000

800,000


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ALUTIIQ PRIDESHELLFISH HATCHERY

SEWARD, ALASKA


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WATER TREATMENT

Filtered Sterilized

Heated


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ALGAE CULTURE


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LARVACULTURE


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LARVA SETTING


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NURSERY CULTURE

ACCELERATING GROWTH OF

SHELLFISH SEED


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ECONOMIC ADVANTAGES OF OYSTER

NURSERY CULTURE FOR ALASKAN

Out-of-state seed In-state seedSeed size Less the 20 mm Greater than 30 mmSeed cost $15-18.00/1000 seed $30.00/1000 seedExpected slowgrowth

20%


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GROWTH OF NURSERY

CULTURED

PACIFIC OYSTER SEED

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

2-Jun

12-Jun

22-Jun

2-Jul

12-Jul

22-Jul

1-Aug

11-Aug

21-Aug

31-Aug

10-Sep

20-Sep

30-Sep

10-Oct

Ovoidareamm

2

Date

2255

22.22.5522001166 110.0.

Shellheigh

tmm

Fast

AveraAveragege

Slo

w


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THE FLOATING UPWELLINGSYSTEM (FLUPSY)

Pumping system

Central trough

Culture chamber


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BASIC FLOATING UPWELLING

SYSTEM DESIGN

Oysterseed

Central

Trough

Waterflow

Waterflow

Watersurface

Float Pum

pSeedbin


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FINAL SEED QUALITY

Larger size

Deeper cup

Harder shell

Uniform size


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SUMMARY OF EXPENSES

AND INCOMEExpense category

Facility depreciation $2,200Seed cost $8,000Labor $2,800Miscellaneous $1,000

Total Expenses $14,000Income from Sales

870,000 seed (25-30 mm) for$30,00/1,000 $26,100Profit per 1 million initial seed $12,100


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SHELLFISH FARMING IN ALASKA


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THE OYSTER FARM

Longline or raft suspension Work Boat/raft (Hoist,Washer) Work Platform (Sorting table

tumbler, Cool storage)


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PACIFIC OYSTER

Not native to Alaska

Imported seed inearly 1900s

Industry failed in late1960s

Restarted again inthe 1970s for thehalfshell market


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Growout

Foulingremoval

Sorting

Restocking

HARDENING

HARVEST

FINAL CLEANING

CHILLED DRY STORAGE

MARINE TOXINTESTING

18-24 MONTHS

3-4 WEEKS MOVE FROMFARM

FAILS

Seed theFarm

ALASKAN OYSTER FARMING

3-4 times

PASSES

PACKAGE FOR MARKET


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SHELLFISH NURSERY CULTURE

Improved inventorycontrol

Decreasedoperational costby 40%

Doubled oystergrowth

Improved survivalfrom 40-60% to85+%

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

2-Jun

12-Jun

22-Jun

2-Jul

12-Jul

22-Jul

1-Aug

11-Aug

21-Aug

31-Aug

10-Sep

20-Sep

30-Sep

10-Oct

Ovoidareamm

2


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GROWOUT

Start at 150 oysters perlantern net chamber or 300

in wire cage Reduce by about half after

first growing season

12-36 months 3 marketsize

Sell for $0.50+ per oyster

10 tiered lantern net

8 stack of wire cages


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LABOR INTENSIVECleaning gear Tumbling

Sorting

Fouling


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HARDENING

Suspended oyster culturecauses weak adductormuscles

Shellfish gap open during

shipping and storage

Hardening conditions theadductor muscle.

3 weeks @ +5 tidal height


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PROCESSING

Weekly shipments Remove all fouling Keep in chilled storage Marine toxin testing Packaged in 50 lb. box


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SHIPPING

Locale buyers will oftenpurchase oysters in coolersthat are returned to thefarmer.

Live oysters are air freightedto distant markets using 50lbs. Wetlock boxes.


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Prime qualityPoorquality

OYSTER QUALITY


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OYSTER QUALITY

Spawniness Lower latitudes become spawny

Retarded in Alaska

Marketing opportunity

Retains sweetness

Summer months

Site selection is critical Compromise on growth potential


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FARMING NATIVE SHELLFISH

Alaska has a ban onimport of non-nativespecies.

Must develophatchery technology

to produce seed. Seen must be

hatchery producedwithin state boudary

Permitting a farm mustbe compliant with statecommon propertyprovisions.

No farming on

harvestable beaches. Beaches must be

depleted of wild clams.


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MUSSEL FARMING

Select site for seed collection

Monitor for mussel larva abundance &size

Deploy collector lines for collecting seed

Retrieve & sock seed in mussel socks

Growout to market size in one year


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BLUE MUSSEL

+ Fast growing

+ High quality

+ High demand and short

supply- PSP can be a problem

- Summer mortalityproblems in southeast

Alaska


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COLLECTING MUSSEL SEED

Plankton tows twiceeach week tocapture floatingscallop larva

Identify mussel larva

Measure larva

Deploy gear when

larva are 220 um inlength

M

M

M

M


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SEED COLLECTION

Rough surface rope

Deployed from a raftor long line


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SOCKING MUSSEL SEED

Eight foot long musselsocks

Tied with overhand knotat each end

8ft.

Blue mussel- seawater slurry

3 diameter pipe

Musselsock

Open/closesliding valve

Side View

Support legs


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MUSSEL GROWOUT On long lines or rafts

Hang at least 6 ft belowsurface

Harvest in one year

5

15

25

35

45

March

June

August

October

December

March

Month

Shell

lengthinmm


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MUSSEL PROCESSING

Processing is necessaryto:

Sort to size

Separate clumps that areconnected by the byssus

Wash

Possibly Remove the byssus


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ALASKAS SCALLOP

Weathervane Largest scallop

Difficult to farm

Sold for muscle

Bay scallop Pink and spiny

Small

Sold whole and live Short shelf life

Purple hinge rock scallop Hatchery seed production

Attaches to substrate


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BAY SCALLOP SEED

M

M

M

M


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ROCK SCALLOP GROWOUT

Lantern net growout

Bay scallop Ear hanging

Weathervane

Rock scallop Research now underway

Market size in 3 to 5 years

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

October

May

October

March

October

March

Date

Shellheight

inmm

Spiny scallop

Pink scallop

Rock scallop

Gonad (red isfemale)

Adductor muscleMantle


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NURSERY CULTURESurvival

5/1/01 10/19/01 Percent 5/30/02 Percent 9/28/02 Percent

Count Count Survival Count Survival Count Survival

100 79.5 80% 70 70% 50 50%

200 161 81% 91.5 46% 58 29%

300 234 78% 131.5 44% 52 17%

GrowthStarting size 16.2 mm

5/1/01 10/19/01 9/28/02

Count

100 35 52

200 33 51

300 31.5 50

Height


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GROWOUT

Nornet with ridged hard perforated plastic flooring for each chamber


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GROWTH MODELvon Bertalanffy fit

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

0 1 2 3 4 5

Ag e

Lengthinmm

L(t) = 131.932[ 1 e-0.340(t+0.497)]R2 = .991


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MUSCLE CHARACTERISTICSComparison for two and four year old

Diameter Height Weight % Recovery No./ lb

Average 27.59 11.87 7.89 10.41% 62.66

Confidence 1.25 0.93 0.82 0.56% 7.17

Average 32.34 20.53 19.09 14.23% 26.94

Confidence 1.37 1.26 1.87 0.01% 2.9

Two year old

Four year old

Fulton fish market price $4.75/per for 20/30count

Definitely need a specialty market


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LITTLENECK CLAM FARMING


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LARVAL DEVELOPMENT

Egg

Trochophore

48

hrs

D-Veliger

3-5

days

Umbo Veliger

10-15

days

Pediveliger

12-15days


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THE LITTLENECK CLAM

Often called steamer

Native species

Prototheca staminea

Abundant wild populations

Market price - 2.25-2.50/lb. Market size in 4-5 years.

High quality and saveshellfish.


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A LITTLENECK CLAM FARMPRODUCTION PLAN

Determine clam distribution on the beach.

Estimate the beach population from at least 11plots one square foot in area.

Measure clams and develop a length frequencydistribution.

Interpret the length frequency distribution tocalculate recruitment and survival

Develop the management plan. Population control, seeding plan, harvest plan.


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INVENTORY EXAMPLEThe Sampling Design

OCEAN

ROC

K


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TYPICAL CLAM BEACH

INVENTORY PLOT


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INVENTORY ANALYSIS

Total Length Frequency

0

2

4

6

8

10

1214

16

18

1 4 710

13

16

19

22

25

28

31

34

37

40

43

46

49

52

55

length (mm)

frequency


0

5

10

15

20

25

1 5 913

17

21

25

29

33

37

41

45

49

length (mm)

frequency

0

5

10

15

2025

30

35

40

0 1 2 3 4 5

Age in years

Length(

mm

32

1

4


0

5

10

15

20

25

1 5 913

17

21

25

29

33

37

41

45

49

53

57

length (mm)

frequency

3

2

14

32

1 4

Tenass Pass Blue Water


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PLOTPRODUCTIONLength class Number Percent Total Number/ sq ft. Number/acre

0-5 16 2.65% 3 112,461

6-10 26 4.31% 4 182,75011-15 20 3.32% 3 140,57716-20 29 4.81% 5 203,83621-25 69 11.44% 11 484,99026-30 114 18.91% 18 801,28731-35 191 31.67% 31 1,342,50836-37 55 9.12% 9 386,58638 & above 83 13.76% 13 583,393Total 603 97 4,238,388

Length class Weight/ft2

PoundsPercentage

WeightWeight/acre

PoundsIncome

at $2.25/lb0-5 0.0001 0.008% 6.16-10 0.0014 0.078% 60.911-15 0.0044 0.246% 192.016-20 0.0177 0.987% 768.921-25 0.0848 4.744% 3,695.826-30 0.2405 13.448% 10,476.931-35 0.6467 36.158% 28,170.136-37 0.2454 13.721% 10,689.838 & above 0.5475 30.611% 23,848.6 $53,659.35


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THE LITTLENECK CLAM

AQUACULTURE PROCESS


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SITE PREPARATION


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PREDATOR NET

PLACEMENT


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SEEDING THE BEACH


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HARVESTING


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SITE CHARACTERISTICS

Breakwater

Exposure: Exposedwest coast lea ofbreakwater

Substrate: Coursesand hard packed littledeposition, depth >1 M

Planted: 8/1/06Tidal height: -2.1 ft

Sampled: Not yetsampled (Spring 09)

Tamgas Bay

Exposure: SW cornerintermittent fetch fromstorms

Substrate: Coursesand with 1 M

Planted: 9/08/02Tidal height: -2.0 ft

Sampled: 7/06/04

Discontinued

Canoe Cove

Exposure: Highlyprotected on all sides

Substrate: Firmorganics and fine sand

Planted: 6/6/04Tidal height: -1.6

Sampled:


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SITE SETUP

120 pvc tubes 6 diameter20 long push in leaving 6exposed.

Planted 5 geoduck seed 9mm size per tube.

Attached predatorscreen over tube.


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CHECKING SURVIVAL

Good survival Low predation 21 of 43 had at lease one

show

8 had 2 shows

None had three shows

Total 29 of 43 (67%) survival

No

Shows

Show

s


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REMOVE TUBES


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HARVESTINGA Dirty Job

Breakage


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CANOE COVEGROWTH

Adequate growth

Less variability0 25 49

0

10

20

30

40

50

Growth in Length

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

0 25 49

Months

Wholeweightgr.


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ALASKAN SHELLFISH FARMING

Shellfish farming has been a hard fit forAlaska

Industry has progressed enormously in thepast 20 years to overcome constraints

Much progress has been made that started

with just a handful of farmers Shellfish farming provides for ruralAlaskans: Economic opportunity directly tocommunities, jobs, and is environmentallycompatible.

Alaska Shellfish Farming

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