Acronym BLUE SEED
Category
Aquaculture
Title Technology development for a reliable supply of high-quality seed in blue mussel farming Programme FP6
Instrument (FP6)
Contact Type (FP7)
Strand (Interreg)
FP6 - SMEs-Co-operative Research Contract
Theme (FP7)
Activity Area (FP6)
Regional Area (Interreg)
Action (COST)
Specific Research Activities for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs)
Specific Programme (FP7)
NA
Funding source European Coordinator Pauline Kamermans Coordinator email pauline.kamermans@wur.nl
Coordinator institution
WUR-IMARES - Wageningen University and Research; Institute for Marine Resources and Ecosystem Studies (Netherlands)
Institutions involved
AquaTT - AquaTT UETP Ltd (Ireland) ,
NA - Bangor University (United Kingdom) ,
CIMA - Center for Marine Research (Spain) ,
NA - Deepdock Ltd (United Kingdom) ,
IFREMER - French Research Institute for Exploitation of the Sea (France) ,
OPMEGA - Galician Mussel Producer Organization (Spain) ,
NA - GRAINOCEAN SAS (France) ,
NA - Roem van Yerseke BV (Netherlands) ,
NA - Viskwekerij Neeltje Jans BV (Netherlands) ,
Start year 2005 End year 2007 Funding (€) € 1,344,387 Website https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/17729 Summary The objectives of the BLUE SEED project are to secure a reliable supply of blue mussel seed and to develop techniques allowing farmers to market blue mussels year round. A problem blue mussel producers face is the unpredictability seed supply. Seed is mostly harvested from suspended substrates or mussel beds. The amounts of wild seed available are extremely variable from year to year. A reliable supply of seed from hatchery sources will allow mussel farmers to overcome this. A second problem is that recently spawned mussels cannot be sold due to insufficient meat content. Producers will benefit greatly from a hatchery-based technique, such as triploid induction, that produces non-maturing mussels that have a higher growth potential and can be marketed year round. Three scientific and technical project objectives were formulated: (1) Develop hatchery technology for a reliable blue mussel seed production, by focusing on (a) broodstock conditioning, (b) larval rearing and (c) seed production; (2) Develop a viable production method for (a) sterile triploid mussel seed and (b) tetraploid broodstock that will enable year-round marketing of high quality mussels; (3) Compare, in each of the project partner countries, the economic feasibility of producing blue mussel seed based on hatchery-produced larvae to the benefits of blue mussel seed collection methods presently in use. Naturally ripened M. edulis and M. galloprovincialis can be held in spawning condition at low temperature with minimal input of live feed (cold-and-hold) from March until August. Conditioning trials in which temperature and food levels were manipulated (heat and treat) succeeded in enhancing the ripening process and enabled earlier spawning than natural populations. The best conditions for rearing larvae and spat were determined. The chemical method to produce triploids was optimised. Heat shock induction showed promising results for both triploidy and tetraploidy. Good larval growth is correlated with good settlement. Epinephrine (Adrenaline) speeds up settlement. Growth performance of triploid spat/seed was similar to that of diploid spat/seed. No mature individuals were detected within the triploid group. Both types of mussels had a good acceptance by a taste panel. Calculation of production costs showed that hatchery production of mussel seed in Europe is only economically feasible when the product has an added value such as triploidy.
Three scientific and technical project objectives were formulated: (1) Develop hatchery technology for a reliable blue mussel seed production, by focusing on (a) broodstock conditioning, (b) larval rearing and (c) seed production; (2) Develop a viable production method for (a) sterile triploid mussel seed and (b) tetraploid broodstock that will enable year-round marketing of high quality mussels; (3) Compare, in each of the project partner countries, the economic feasibility of producing blue mussel seed based on hatchery-produced larvae to the benefits of blue mussel seed collection methods presently in use.
Keywords
Genetic;
Economy;
Mussel;
Technology;
Larval rearing;
Broodstocks;
Shellfish;
Seed production;
Bivalve;
Land-based aquaculture;
Mollusc;
Marine Region
4
Eastern English Channel (27.VIId)
5
Southern North Sea (27.IVc)
12
Bay of Biscay North (27.VIIIa)
3
Marine Region Map
