Blue mussels aquaculture challenges explained
Bivalve species like oysters, mussels, manila and hard shell clams can survive for extended periods out of water and can be traded for human consumption as live animals. The primary aim of capturing, holding and transporting live mussels is to deliver them to markets in the best possible condition. Mussels will be exposed to some level of stress during all or part of the trade chain. Stress can be defined as any factor (either external or internal) causing a physiological disturbance to the mussels. In the live mussel industry these factors include capture, de-clumping, fluctuating temperatures, sunlight and other bright lights, wind or drafts, handling and physical damage, poor water quality during holding, conditioning and purification. Mussels are generally able to recover from such stresses, however if any or a combination of those stresses are sufficiently intense, then poor quality (broken shells, gaping, unpleasant smell) or dead mussels will result.The MusselsAlive project aim is to keep mussels alive through the trade chain, by improving good practices and introducing new technology.
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Blue mussels aquaculture challenges explained
- 2. Mussels Development of best practice and new technology for grading, handling, transportation, Alive conditioning and storage of mussels for SMEs in the European mussel industry
- 3. Mussels can survive for extended periods out of water and are traded for human consumption as live animals
- 4. The increased production and the development of rapid ground and air transport have improved the supply of live product to markets worldwide
- 5. However, live marketing is a complex issue
- 6. Following harvest, cultured mussels are washed, declumped, and graded by size
- 8. After grading and if bacteria loads in the harvesting area are above the legislated level, mussels must also be either re-layed depurated
- 9. Shellfish harvested from polluted areas can be placed in clean areas (areas free of Relaying microbiological contamination) to allow shellfish to cleanse or purge themselves
- 10. Boost Filtering Activity Clean water Avoid Depuration recontamination re-watering process in clean water that promotes the purging of some bacteria from the mussels.
- 11. Boost Filtering Activity Clean water Avoid Depuration recontamination re-watering process in clean water that promotes the purging of some bacteria from the mussels.
- 12. ...after being relayed or depurated mussels are once again declumped, debyssed and then packed and transported
- 13. Transport out of water can take between 24 and 48 hours
- 14. Once out of water mussels gape and loose water Gaping mussel Gaping mussel
- 16. So in every step of the live trade mussels face challenges that can lead to mortality 1 Physical damage Grading & Handling
- 17. Holding & Conditioning 2 Poor Water Quality
- 18. Storage 3 4 Air exposure Fluctuating temperatures Transport
- 19. In this project we investigated every critical point Holding & Storage Conditioning Poor Water Quality 1 2 3 4 Air exposure Physical damage Fluctuating temperatures Transport Grading & Handling
- 20. For further information please visit our site at http://www.musselsaliveproject.com/
- 21. This presentation was developed with the support of the European Commission through the Collaborative Research Project ''MusselsAlive : Development of best Practice and new technology for grading, handling, transportation, conditioning and storage of mussels for SMEs in the European mussel industry“ by Sara Barrento s.i.barrento@swansea.ac.uk Centre for Sustainable Aquatic Research http://www.aquaculturewales.com Swansea University Singleton Park Swansea, SA2 8PP
Editor's Notes
- You could think that depuration is about giving the mussels the same conditions that they have in seawater, the location where they were harvested from. Actually the overriding premise in the depuration of bivalve molluscs is to create the conditiosn to elicitate the removal of the contents of the digestive tract into the water system holding the animals and to ensure the resultant faeces and any pseudofaeces remain separated from the bivalves for the duration of immersion. This is done by controlling the environmental parameters of the water such that the animal‟s metabolism is raised to a point were the deposition of faeces increases without exhausting the animal to such and extent that it dies prior to consumption.