Comparative performance evaluation of selected mussel seedstocks

Description

Future expansion of the mussel culture industry in Newfoundland is restricted by the quantity and quality of seed supply available for growout. Currently, most mussel culture sites used for seed production are heavily stocked. This had led to a directed effort in recent years to identify new potential seed collection sites which may be commercially developed by industry. The search for new potential seed collection sites is hampered by the widespread natural occurrence of mixed species indigenous stocks containing widely varying proportions of M. trossulus and M. edulis x M. trossulus hybrids. Use of such stocks for commercial growout has been identified as a major source of past industry problems with poor growth, poor production performance, and unsatisfactory shell appearance in the marketplace. Thus, there is a pressing need to conduct trial performance evaluations of new potential seed stocks before significant commercial investment in such sites can be recommended. Since indigenous seed stocks at many Newfoundland coastal sites have relatively high proportions of M. trossulus, development and commercial testing of high performance M. edulis stocks for seed transfer to such sites has the potential to significantly boost commercial mussel production on an industry-wide scale.

Program Name

Aquaculture Collaborative Research and Development Program (ACRDP)

Year(s)

2009 - 2011

Ecoregion(s)

Atlantic: Newfoundland, Labrador Shelves

Principal Investigator(s)

Gehan Mabrouk
Email: Gehan.Mabrouk@dfo-mpo.gc.ca