An Innovative Approach for Seed Sorting in Small Farm Operations

Final Report

Little Wing Oysters Ltd

AIMAP 2011-P03

Executive Summary

This project has developed a novel mobile floating seed sorter and handling system for oysters. It involved the purchase, assembly, and testing of seed handling equipment comprised of a seed screening machine, a specialized working raft, a system housing, solar power generation equipment, and other component equipment. Testing of this unique system resulted in a benchmarking study of productivity gains measured against past production costs and values. This report will be shared with industry across the country. This new system has produced significant productivity gains, cost reductions, and increased product value. Increasing frequent screening of oyster seed has been shown to improve quality and thus product value. Minimizing the amount of time the oysters are out of the water reduces stress in a critical period of their life. Utilizing solar power will also reduce the farms' environmental footprint. Establishing a portable system will enable economies of scale across several small farms. As such, this portable mechanized oyster seed screening system for small farms will increase production, reduce costs, and improve product quality in a variety of locations and situations. 

This project is specifically targeted for the small oyster farm operation. Mechanization achieves a higher production rate with the same amount of labor, thus leaving more time for other production stages and reducing overall costs per unit. In order for smaller operations to thrive in a global market, they must specialize in a way that will increase the value of the final product. Seed screening is a vital stage in the production process of high-end quality oysters because it is here that they pick up the characteristics of shape and depth which are sought after by top quality domestic and international markets.

The project delivered a much greater increase to farm productivity than anticipated. We were expecting an increase of 75% but found increases of more than 300%. In addition, other growers in the same situation in BC and across Canada will have access to the plans and final evaluation of this prototype system to compare with their own. Growers will also have access to the system plans and the final report through the Little Wing Oysters blog.

Introduction & Overview

An Innovative approach for seed screening in small farm operations

This project developed a novel Mobile Floating Oyster Seed Sorting and Handling System. The economic impact of the project was twofold: it allowed a small group of companies to effectively utilize equipment that they would not be able to afford individually resulting in significant cost reductions and increased product value.

Two environmental impactsof the project were reduced stress on the oysters by minimizing the amount of time they are out of the water in a critical stage of their life; the utilization of solar power technology will significantly reduce our long term environmental footprint.

This project is specifically targeted for the small farm operation. Our research has shown that small companies and family run operations in BC are using manual seed screeners or low efficiency systems to sort oyster seed. Leading seed screening technology in use in BC today is associated only with fluppsies in larger operations and due to cost they are out of reach of small growers. This project focused on the unique conditions found on smaller operations.

This project was aimed at developing a prototype flexible enough that individual farmers can use high efficiency technology to increase productivity and reduce costs through mechanization of the oyster seed screening stage. The use of mechanical screeners speeds the process and enables the operators to go through larger amounts of seed quickly and more frequently, resulting in a better quality oyster.

Little Wing Oysters built a unique Mobile Floating Oyster Seed Sorting and Handling System which incorporated the best components available worldwide. In order to make this system relevant to the small growers, Little Wing Oysters made modifications to allow for easy transport and usage by a variety of operating systems common in BC. To our knowledge, there is no other similar system in use anywhere in the world.

Through mechanization, Little Wing Oysters reduced labour requirements and reduced stress on the animals. In addition, the new system has increased the number of seeds sorted in a day by at least 300% in each of the three systems Little Wing Oysters tested: floating bag system (FBS), wild seed from collectors and lantern net nursery production.

The innovative system Little Wing Oysters has designed will free up the small farmer to spend more time doing the intensive management that results in premium grade oysters. In oyster production, the more often the animals are sorted, the higher the quality. Increased production and efficiency will enable us to screen the young oysters more frequently which in turn will produce a higher quality product.

This project involved the purchase of an oyster seed screening machine manufactured by Mulot France which was then be modified with a variable speed loading mechanism which regulates the amount of oysters to feed the equipment, thus giving a more even grade. The screener uses three easily interchangeable screen pans that sort the oyster seeds into four sizes. We purchased five screens for the equipment: 5, 12, 15, 20 and 25mm. The unit was mounted on a floating platform with ample room to manipulate the oyster growout equipment. This mobile platform is designed to be able to handle different production systems common in British Columbia: floating bags, lantern nets, wild seed from collectors, fluppsy bins and trays.

A solar power generation system was designed to supply the equipment for normal use. It includes a 1150 watt solar array, a 60 amp charge controller, a 4kw inverter, a 1725Ah battery bank for energy storage and all the breakers and disconnect required by the building code. A generator will be used as backup for periods of intense use. Solar power provides a high quality power for the system and will be a long lasting benefit to the project.

Three Production Systems Tested

Three production systems were used in the design and for testing the prototype during the project. By testing three different ways of growing oysters, Little Wing Oysters designed a platform with all the equipment necessary to accommodate any set up thus benefiting the widest range of production.

The Floating Bag System (FBS), widely used on the East Coast, was introduced in BC in early 2000. Little Wing Oysters started experimenting with FBS in 2004 and it is now our main production system. It consists of a series of 100 poly pouches with floatation attached to each side. The system takes advantage of the higher temperature and food availability at the surface. This system is designed to be able to flip the bags regularly to avoid fouling and gently tumbles the oysters at the same time.

Using the product from the FBS, the prototype increased the productivity well beyond our expectations. An increase of 346% in the number of oyster seed screened and deployed was obtained with the new system. An average of 38,000 oysters per hour was handled; we found that the handling of the oyster seed after screening took the most time. When screening only times were tallied, the values ranged from 125,000 to 565,000 seed per hour, averaging 375,000 oysters per hour.

Wild Seed from Collectors has received more attention in the last few years due to the uncertainty surrounding oyster seed availability from nurseries. Pendrell Sound is one of BC's most reliable sources of wild oyster seed. Monitoring for spat was resumed in 2009 by local growers and continues through 2011. Traditionally, wild sets were not used for singles - destined for oyster bars - due to the high labour costs needed to strip and screen the seeds. Recent advancement in seed collection combined with this project may offer BC growers another affordable source of seed. One of the big challenges with wild seed is the wide size range within a set. Multiple screening is necessary for obtaining a good quality seed. The goal is to produce a good quality seed with a cluster percentage, seeds fused together, below 10%. The reduction in labour cost was significant and is expected make this seed supply more affordable. The new system dramatically reduced costs associated with screening to $1.50 per thousand from $6.50 per thousand using manual screening. Little Wing Oysters hope to make a case for the use of wild seed into mainstream single oyster production.

Lantern Net Production is generally used with seeds under 12mm in size. The young oysters are placed in small mesh lantern nets until they are big enough to move into trays or pouches. Frequent screening is necessary to produce high quality seeds. The handling of lantern nets is similar to the use of trays thus providing a broad range of possible users. The increase in productivity resulted in labour time savings of over 90%.

Commercial Justification

Little Wing Oysters have identified oyster seed sorting as being a priority for improvement for many years. Our research has shown that mechanization is not only possible but necessary in order reduce cost of production and has many side benefits such as an increase in product quality and stress reduction to the animals. Little Wing Oysters initially did a feasibility study to find out what is available around the world and found that seed screening is designed with the large operations in mind. Oyster seed screening machinery is in use by all the major oyster farming companies of the world. In France, New Zealand, Australia and the US, most of the companies have advanced seed screening technology. Whereas in BC, only the largest companies use them with their fluppsy.

The design of the mobile floating seed sorter and handling system prototype specifically addresses the unique requirements and challenges in a small operation. One of the most significant benefits of this system is in its ability to be moved to different locations. Small farms have limited resources, and they are reluctant to invest a significant amount of money in specialized equipment. Little Wing Oysters shows how necessary the investment is and that the benefits outweigh the costs. Little Wing Oysters has been screening seed by hand for many years, typically Little Wing Oysters plan on 40,000 12mm seed per day. Little Wing Oysters found that 178,000 12mm seed per day can be handled using the new system, an improvement well beyond our expectations.

Manual screening of seed is labor intensive and tends to be done only when necessary. Oysters in these circumstances tend to develop a poor shape if left in high densities over long periods of time; screening more often alleviates this. The screening machine sorts the oysters by size through a series of vibrating screens which causes the oysters to chafe against each other, breaking off weak frills of shell resulting in a stronger and more evenly shaped product. Little Wing Oysters is finding an increase in demand for these premium quality oysters internationally, unfortunately, at this time Little Wing Oysters can barely supply the domestic market. Little Wing Oysters have received inquiries from the Philippines, China and Russia as a result of the reduced French oyster production.

Scope of Impact

By having our screening equipment adaptable to different growout systems, Little Wing Oysters will demonstrate the efficiencies gained by mechanizing the seed screening stage. The versatile nature of this design can be of benefit to all of the oyster growing regions of the country.

The investors involved received an immediate impact with an increase in economic and environmental productivity through reduced production costs, an increase in product quality, a reduction of the stress to the animals and a reduction of greenhouse gas with the use of solar technology.

The impact on oyster growers in the same situation within BC will be access to the information gained on productivity and economic improvement of this technology over manual labor. Nationally, Little Wing Oysters believe this technology is as relevant on the east coast as in BC. It is our intent to make available to the industry from coast to coast the findings of the project including plans free of charge.

Using online calculators Little Wing Oysters calculated the amount of greenhouse gas reduced with the use of the solar technology by 175kg of carbon dioxide per year. This will benefit Canada in its Greenhouse Gas Reduction Strategy.

Plan & Performance Management

The project consisted of building a work platform where the seed screening equipment has been installed. The design of the platform is based on the newest raft drawings made by Odyssey Shellfish made available through the BCSGA. The platform is movable by boat and has been used at different farms. The screening equipment chosen is manufactured by Mulot France; they have a compact model developed over 15 years that is easily adaptable to the small farm environment. Other models are available in Australia and the US but they are either too large or ineffective (Appendix 2 of the original AIMAP proposal). The cost of designing and building our own model from scratch is comparable to the Mulot model (refer to Keith Reid's letter in appendix 1of the original AIMAP proposal) but Little Wing Oysters would not have the benefit of 15 years manufacturing and service experience. The design of the platform is made to be flexible and adaptable to different operations.

1. Feasibility study and draft design:
   This step was completed before the start of the project.
   
   
2. Review of work plan with regulatory bodies
   The use of work platforms is widespread in the industry and Little Wing Oysters have not encountered any regulatory problems. Nonetheless, Little Wing Oysters wish to maintain an open dialog with all regulators and discussions have taken place with Fisheries & Oceans Canada (DFO), the BC Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations (BC FLNRO), Workmen's Compensation Board (WCB), and Transport Canada.
   
   
3. Literature search
   A literature search has been initiated in collaboration with the NRC. The information gathered has been used to enhance our existing research and knowledge of existing systems.
   
   
4. Order of the Mulot equipment
   This step was completed April 8.
   
   
5. Review of system design with the lead team
   The system design was reviewed by Yves Perreault, Ed Bereziak and Bob Paquin to optimize design so the platform and the equipment now allows for efficient handling of the three production system to be tested.
   
   
6. Build database for tracking results
   The data for the project has been collected in a database; the database application was built by the project manager. The database was used to collect all project data and test results, then used as the tool for analysis of the new system in comparison to the three baseline systems.
   
   
7. Review of the plans with expert staff at CSR
   Little Wing Oysters has consulted with experts at the Centre for Shellfish Research at Vancouver Island University (Helen Gurney-Smith) and was provided with additional insight to the system design and the evaluation design. Based on this review, refinements were made to the project plan, system design and the system evaluation plan.
   
   
8. Purchase of oyster seeds
   The oyster seeds were received late this year due to difficulties at the hatcheries but we were able to get all the seed we ordered. Little Wing Oysters used some of its 2010 seed for testing larger size oysters in order to gather more data for the project. Little Wing Oysters received 500,000 2380micron oyster seeds June 15 and 500,000 2380micron oyster seed July 8. Five hundred thousand wild seeds were available in the middle of September. French's Clam received 500,000 2380micron oyster seed June 15 and another 250,000 2380micron July 8.
   
   
9. Mulot equipment ready for transport
   The Mulot equipment was ready for transport on May 10.
   
   
10. Mulot equipment from France to Vancouver
    The freight was arranged by Aquamar Shipping Inc. (inclusive of inland freight in France, export terminals, wharfage, handling ocean freight, current bunker fuel surcharges, destination terminals and transit insurance).
    
    
11. Final engineering and performance measurement review
    A final system design review was conducted with the lead team members and PSA Engineering Ltd at the end of July. 
    
    In addition, expert opinion gathered from Vancouver Island University Centre for Shellfish Research was used to ensure all useful baseline data was in place and that performance measures would be effective. 
    
    
12. Order solar equipment, generator and hardware
    The solar equipment was ordered the first week of July to ensure delivery prior to the construction phase. The materials and hardware for the platform were sourced locally where available: the lumber (Lois Lake Forest Products), generator (Thunder Bay Saw Shop in Powell River) and floatation and specialty hardware for the platform (Barr Plastics).
    
    
13. Platform construction and system installation
    The building phase of the platform was performed by the lead team between August 8-15.
    
    
14. Installation of solar equipment
    The solar equipment delivery was delayed several weeks as the supplier was busy.
    
    
15. Pick up of Mulot equipment in Vancouver
    The Mulot equipment was picked up by the Project Manager and was inspected at the shipyard for content and damages.
    
    
16. Installation of Mulot equipment
    The screening equipment was installed with the assistance of S.A.S Mulot and Mark Long, the electrician.
    
    
17. Initial Testing
    The seed sorting equipment was ready for testing in the mid August. At that time the young oysters were at an ideal stage to pass through the system. Initial testing was started as soon as all the components were in place. At this time, the solar equipment had not been received as some of the components were on backorder due to high demands during the early summer. The equipment was run with the generator and performed admirably. Initially, the water pump supplying the spray for the screener and the elevator was not delivering sufficient volume. Until a more powerful electrical pump was purchased, French's Clam's gas powered pump was used. Eventually, a 1hp jet pump proved to be adequate.
    
    Originally, a fair amount of very small seeds were escaping the elevator, the addition of an extra guard and a greater volume of water remedied the problem.
    
    
18. Review and Possible Improvements
    During the initial testing, the lead team assessed the initial efficiency of the system to verify whether any modifications were necessary before the full production testing phase. Minor modifications were made to the placement of the equipment for an efficient use of the space available.
    
    
19. Production Testing / Analysis
    It can be clearly seen that the use of the automated graded greatly increases the numbers of oysters that can be processed per hour. The actual numbers of oysters graded varied with type of seed (e.g. hatchery or FBS seed, wild seed and lantern net seed), with greater numbers of oysters graded when from hatchery of lantern net sources as opposed to wild seed. Also the numbers of oysters processed varied with size.
    
    There was a significant improvement of using the automated system when compared to the manual screening performed previously. In addition for hatchery seed without handling, approximately 19 times the amount of 12mm seed were processed per hour when comparing to projected values, indicating that the handling capacity of the system far exceeded expectation. Handling significantly reduced the amount of seed capable to be processed per hour (from 165,429 to 22,316). Also it appears that the type of seed processed is important, as greater amounts of lantern net seed and hatchery seed (unhandled) were processed per hour (165,429 and 69,782 respectively) when compared to wild seed (16,911).
    
    In each case, more than double the amount of seed was actually graded per hour when compared to projected values of automation and are much greater than seen in the manual system. In conclusion the new automated system is far more efficient at grading oyster seed and is therefore significantly improving the efficiencies of operation for shellfish farmers.
    
    
20. Reporting
    Throughout the project, Little Wing Oysters provided updates to AIMAP on request.
    
    
21. Final Report and Communication
    An article describing the project, the results and the general costs will be published in the BCSGA Tidelines newsletter. The article will also be made available online on the BCSGA website and the Little Wing Oysters Blog.
    
    The prototype will be made available to visitors with prior notice. Several growers and members of the media were taken to Little Wing's farm site to show the operation of the system.

Biosecurity Design and Procedures

This system was designed to be easily cleaned to minimise the risk of contamination to the natural environment and the shellstock. Any disposal of either live or dead organisms will be made according to the licence and management plans of each site where the prototype will be used. All the equipment will be thoroughly cleaned in an environmentally responsible way after each use to avoid bacteria build-up and contamination.

Conclusion

The development of a novel mobile floating seed sorter and handling system for oysters has led to increases to farm productivity of more than 300%, well beyond our expectations of 75%. The main components are: a seed screening machine, a specialized working mobile platform, solar power generation equipment, and a backup generator. 

This new system has produced significant productivity gains, cost reductions, and will lead to an increase in product value. An average of 38,000 oysters per hour was handled; we found that the handling of the oyster seed after screening took the most time. When screening only times were tallied, the values ranged from 125 000 to 565 000 seed per hour and averaged 375,000 oysters per hour. We estimate the cost of this system to be 50¢ per thousand including labour, maintenance and amortization.

Utilizing solar power will also reduce the farms environmental footprint. The establishment of a portable system will enable economies of scale across several small farms. As such, a portable mechanized oyster seed screening system for small farms will increase production, reduce costs, and improve product quality.