Hatchery cultures

HELM M M and BOURNE N (2004) Hatchery culture of bivalves. A practical manual, in LovateUi A (ed), FAO Fisheries Technical Paper 471. Rome FAO. 

UTTING s D and spencer b e (1991) The hatchery culture of bivalve mollusc larvae and juveniles, Lab. Leaflet 68. Lowestoft MAFF Directorate of Fisheries Research. 

HAIR c, KAURE T, SOUTHGATE p and PICKERING T (2011) Potential breakthrough in hatchery culture of sandfish Holothuria scabra by using algal concentrate as food. SPC Beche-de-mer Information Bulletin, 31,60-61. 

SCHIPP G R, BOSMANS j M p and MARSHALL A j (1999) A method for hatchery culture of tropical calanoid copepods, Acartia spp. Aquaculture, 174,81-88. 

Fig. 20.2 Demonstration of the oysters filtering ability using hatchery-cultured algae.Top aquaria at the beginning of demonstration. Bottom aquaria after oysters have filtered the algae from the water.

The next step in increasing oyster culture intensity might involve hatchery production and settling of spat on cultch. Once again, the cultch would be later distributed over a bed leased or owned by the oyster culturist (Eig. 1). Control of predators such as starfish and oyster drills could easily be a part of culture at all levels. 

Provision ofHve foods is currently necessary for the early stages of many aquaculture species because acceptable prepared feeds have yet to be developed. Algae is routinely cultured for the early stages of moUuscs produced in hatcheries. Once the moUuscs are placed in growout areas, natural productivity is depended upon to provide the algae upon which the shellfish feed. 

The test organism should be widely available through laboratory culture, procurement from a hatchery or other culture facility, or collection from the field. In many cases marine organisms are difficult to culture successfully in the laboratory environment requiring field collection. 

Sola 1993 Huertas et al. 2008), suggest that chemical communication could be involved at key stages of their life history, such as the migration across the Atlantic Ocean and complex reproductive processes. Knowledge of eel olfaction could be included in hatchery operation protocols for the aquaculture industry or restoration of European eel. For example, sex pheromones, when identified, could potentially be used to induce reproduction under artificial conditions and produce offspring in a hatchery. Under such conditions the cultured animals could be used in the restocking of eel in European waters or reduce the needs for commercial fishing. 

Microalgae, the microscopic plants present in oceans and waterways, are exploited as an indispensible food source for the commercial production of many aquaculture species. Within the hatchery environment, they are directly eaten by all growth stages of bivalves (broodstock, larvae, juveniles), post-set abalone, the larval stages of some crustacean species, and the very early developmental stages of some fish species. Microalgae are also used as feed to culture zooplankton (e.g. Anemia, rotifers, copepods) that are used as food for larval and juvenile stages of many fish and crustacean species. 

To reduce risks, parent and sometimes grandparent stocks are retained as backup. On-going maintenance of stock cultures requires skilled staff and specialised equipment (e.g. autoclaves, UV-laminar flow cabinets, controlled-growth rooms). Many hatcheries choose to limit their in-house maintenance of stock cultures, and instead periodically purchase new stock cultures from dedicated culture collections that can guarantee their vitality and quality (Section 4.4.3). 

Living microalgae starter cultures are available from selected algal culture collections and other commercial suppliers (Table 4.2). Whilst there is stUl some exchange of microalgal strains between hatcheries, the industry is much more tuned to the importance of quahty control in the microalgae... 

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