The Grower — 1

The Grower Newsletter for the Association of Scottish Shellfish Growers

October 2012

Chairman's

Column

3

ASSG conference 4

Portaferry

Conference

6,7

MUSSEL TALK

Socking

8,9

News from Oz 10

ICMSS 11

Carbon footprint

of shellfish

12

INSIDE THIS 20

PAGE ISSUE

The Grower is distributed to all members of the ASSG and is also available online at www.assg.org.uk Why don’t you consider advertising to our specialist readership?

The Grower is a quarterly newsletter edited by Janet H. Brown, The Shellfish Team, 2

Annfield Grove, Stirling, FK8 2BN jan.brown@dsl.pipex.com For membership of ASSG contact Chairman: Walter Speirs, Muckairn Mussels, Achnacloich. Connel,

Argyll, PA37 1PR walter.speirs@btconnect.com

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the official view of the Association

Advertising

SSMG opens new processing facility

A celebratory lunch was hosted at Scottish Shellfish Marketing Group’s new facility in

Bellshill to mark its official opening in August. The important role of the founders of the

long established cooperative was acknowledged in the speech from the current chairman,

Michael Laurenson who made the point that their far-sightedness had been crucial for the

successful development of the Scottish shellfish farming industry. These far-sighted

persons are pictured above, from left, Walter Speirs, David Cyster, John Ross and John

Holmyard. For a full account and more photographs see page 16.

Crowds gather round to try

oysters at the Foodies Festival

held in Edinburgh during the

Festival period in August. So at

which stand were the biggest

crowds to be found? In front of

the Caledonian Oysters stand as

shown on the left. They had

queues all the day the Editor

visited the show, and this

chimed for her with a report in

another shellfish newsletter.

See page 17 for an explanation

The oyster tasting experience Ocean

acidification

14

SSMG opening

PICTURES

16

Oyster marketing 17

The Grower — 2

All your recirculation/ depuration needs

SLF Aquatech has considerable experience in project design and installation of many closed circuit and

recirculation systems, in fresh water as well as in salt water cultures and with many different species. Our

systems have been developed with well proven results. The recirculation systems reuse the culture water

with a minimum need for renewal. By using a recirculation system it is possible to keep the water quality at

its optimum to enhance production growth, in fresh water as well as in salt water and at minimum cost.

SLF Aquatech’s live holding and depuration technology has been specifically designed for the commercial

throughput of live fish, lobster, crab, bivalves and any other live seafood commercially available.

SLF Aquatech's systems employ unique technology and an international system design to deliver

tangible advantages over any other tank in the market. As a company our vision is to raise the benchmark

in the quality of live seafood throughout the world. We are committed to providing effective live seafood

holding products at each stage of the seafood supply chain, from point of harvest to the dining table. This

includes from bulk holding tanks designed for fisherman, wholesale/export, for aquaculture industries,

shellfish depuration systems as well as live transport tanks for wholesalers and fishermen in remote

locations, right through to live seafood display tanks and innovative refrigerated fresh seafood displays for

the retail and hospitality industries

Slf Aquatech can also offer consultancy services to complete any project where water treatment

technologies are required; for aquaculture projects, shellfish depuration, crustacean live holding. We can

prepare the required studies to estimate project feasibility, for new projects and for projects already in

operation. A proper evaluation of the land or the existing infrastructure potential related to productivity or

improvement, the most suitable culture and the best production systems to practice, with the target of

returning maximum income are exploited. We can suggest the most effective

practices to manage your production, improving cost savings by using the

most advanced technologies in aquaculture. We are highly experienced in

planning and the installation of recirculation systems and closed systems.

Come and talk to us, Gerardo Saggiomo and Paolo Moresco

at the ASSG conference in Oban 24th-25th October at the Corran Halls,

Oban PA34 5AB

or contact us at

Unit 95 Miles Rd, Mitcham CR4 3FH Mobile 0044 (0)798 4425 907

Tel 0044 (0) 208 6718 515 – e mail gerardo@slf-uk.com

See our web site www.slf-aquatech.com We look forward to talking to

you.

The Grower — 3

The Grower — 4

Chairman’s Column This issue I’ll start with the SAGB Mollusc

committee meeting of Friday 21st September. Food

Standards Agency gave a presentation relating to work

proposed to assess the contribution made by the food

chain to the burden of UK acquired Norovirus infection,

as opposed to person to person transmission. I’m glad

this kind of work is being funded, and I look forward to

the report, as it will almost certainly show that the

contribution made by shellfish to infection is very small

indeed.

The subject discussed at greatest length was oyster

herpes virus, and the most recent closure announced in

England. It was established that there had been no

transfer of shellfish from an infected area, so somehow

transmission of the virus must have been by other

means. It was reported that only the seed had been

affected and possible reasons for the emergence of the

virus included temperature, stress, lack of food, salinity,

density, and position on the beach. It seems trestles

furthest down the beach were the ones affected.

A presentation followed from Bournemouth

University on the findings emerging from the

Crassostrea gigas Issues Paper, relating to whether or

not C. gigas should be classed as a non native species,

and what possibility there was of it spreading all over

our coastlines. Most of the findings were fairly positive

and I look forward to seeing the final publication, once

all the points commented on have been incorporated.

It is rather inconvenient that SAGB meetings are on

Fridays now, as it means I don’t get home until 11pm,

which is rather antisocial on a Friday night, but not

much I can do about it!

On Wednesday 12th September the Shellfish Forum

met in Inverness, and I will send out the minutes when

they are ready. As usual, we had a busy and constructive

meeting. First on the Agenda was an update from

Marine Scotland. On the subject of Audit and Review of

planning consents, we learned that a letter will be going

out to all growers very soon, telling them where they are

in the process, and what they need to do, if anything.

The Aquaculture and Fisheries Bill is going to be

introduced next month, and it will reveal how Shellfish

Growing Waters in Scotland will be protected going

forward. Results of testing show that Scotland remains

free of the oyster herpes virus.

We have a new Minister for Environment and

Climate Change, Paul Wheelhouse, MSP for South

Scotland. I hope to meet him as soon as possible.

The Scottish Government are refreshing the

Ministerial Group on Aquaculture (MGA); this will

provide the opportunity to consider the future role, aims

and objectives of the Working Groups - including the

Shellfish Forum. In particular, considering how these

may be re-focussed to facilitate the achievement of the

ambitious growth targets and to ensure that growth is

sustainable. At the last meeting of MGA on 19 July

2012 there was broad agreement that working groups

had made good progress but it was time to take a fresh

look. To help facilitate this, Paul Haddon, Aquaculture

Policy Team Leader, will take over from Danny Pendrey

as policy lead for shellfish farming. Danny will still lead

on health and welfare issues, while Paul will take a

strategic overview, including attending the Shellfish

Forum, making it consistent with the other Working

Groups.

The subject of depuration remains on the agenda,

and the desire by all parties to encourage the preparing

of a set of Industry Standards for Depuration is still

strong. However, funding it remains a problem. It was

suggested that I should re-submit the previous EFF

application, after further discussion with Marine

Scotland.

We were given an update on the workings of the text

alert system being trialled in England, which involves

the water companies sending texts to growers if a CSO

in their area is likely to spill. It will be interesting to see

how this trial works, but the main thing for me is that the

water companies and the growers are now working

together to improve things, as opposed to being enemies.

Don’t think Scottish Water are going to volunteer to

follow suit any day soon, but we will continue to work

at it.

I was delighted to be invited to the formal opening of

the new Scottish Shellfish Marketing Group factory on

the 24th August. It is really encouraging to see how this

co-operative continues to grow, in line with primary

production, and consumer demand. Congratulations to

Stephen and his team for managing the move. I believe

more shellfish is required now, to fully utilize the

facility, so if you have any spare capacity, now would be

a good time to increase your production!

The main focus for me now is our Annual

Conference, and our AGM. I would urge you, as always,

to make an effort to attend. Nicki and I are doing our

best to make it a stimulating and interesting event, with

a variety of speakers. Please book soon, as it helps with

organisation if we get an early indication of numbers.

Also, could I ask you to make as many others as

possible aware of the event? Every extra person helps

finance your association.

That’s all for now, I look forward to seeing you at

the Conference and AGM.

Walter

Walter Speirs, chairman of Association of Scottish

Shellfish Growers

The Grower — 5

waters and asking if it is changing, whilst Angus Garret

of Seafish looks at CO2 emissions in shellfish and Andy

Fitzgerald of Aquaprova talks about ways in which

sewage effluent can be managed better to take shellfish

farming into consideration. David Attwood of Loch

Fyne Oysters will give a short presentation on managing

the risks posed by oyster herpes virus.

The way forward for shellfish water quality is

discussed by Joyce Carr from the Environmental Quality

Division of Scottish Government, and the conference

ends on a high note with Stephen Cameron of SSMG

talking about the promotion of cultivated molluscs in

Europe.

Reception/workshop pre-conference

A pre-conference workshop is being hosted by

Plymouth Marine Laboratory, to examine what ocean

acidification could mean in the future for the farmed

shellfish industry. Of interest to all, this event is at the

Scottish Association for Marine Science in

Dunstaffnage, from 1830 – 2000 on 23rd October and

must be pre-booked on the ASSG website. (See article

and invitation on pages 14 and 15)

A workshop on oyster testing is being hosted at the

conference by Neogen at lunchtime on the first day, and

a host of trade stands offer products, services and expert

advice throughout the conference.

Walter Speirs, Chairman of the ASSG, explained

that the conference has something of interest to

everyone connected with the shellfish industry. “We

have an exciting programme that caters for shellfish

farmers, regulators and personnel from ancillary

industries, as well as providing an excellent networking

opportunity, and I look forward to meeting old and new

faces at the event,” he said.

Delegates can register for all events at

www.assg.org.uk

ASSG is grateful for sponsorship by the following

organisations: The Crown Estate, Seafish, Scottish

Natural Heritage and Highlands & Islands Enterprise.

The leader of Argyll & Bute Council, Roddy

McCuish, is to open the Association of Scottish Shellfish

Growers (ASSG) 2-day conference at the Corran Halls,

Oban, Argyll, on October 24th, welcoming international

speakers and delegates to the annual event.

Courtney Hough, General Secretary of the Federation

of European Aquaculture Producers and the European

Aquaculture Technology and Innovation Platform, will

give the keynote speech and offer an expert guide to the

opportunities and challenges for the aquaculture industry

under the new Common Fisheries Policy.

Research update

New for this year is a research forum, in which four

top scientists will present the latest findings from their

work on different aspects of mussel and oyster culture,

including management of algal toxins and improving

methods for live transportation. The BEADS, Mussels

Alive, OysterRecover and BivaLife projects are all

represented.

Ormer farming in Jersey is the subject of Tony

Legg’s presentation, which also looks at Scottish

applications for the growing system he has developed in

conjunction with Fusion Marine. Delegates are invited

to view the system at Fusion Marine’s yard at Barcaldine

after the conference.

A pictorial representation of mussel and pearl

farming around the world is on offer from Joe Franklin

Jnr of the Quality Equipment Group in New Zealand,

and Nicki Holmyard, manager of the Seafood in Schools

project, explains how she is encouraging more

youngsters to enjoy shellfish!

Best shellfish competition

Back for the fourth time is the popular competition to

find Scotland’s best Mussels, Pacific and Native

Oysters, with a live cooking and sampling session taking

place at 1230 on the first day of the conference. This

event is open to all Scottish farmers and is a hotly

contested event.

The second day starts with Keith Davidson of SAMS

examining the abundance of mussel spat in Scottish

Dates for your diary:

ASSG Annual Conference,

Corran Halls, Oban,

24-25th October 2012

Oyster World Congress

28th November—2nd December 2012

Arcachon, France

ICSR meeting

Mystic, Connecticut, USA

December 12-15th 2010

ICMSS meeting

Sydney, Australia

March 17-22nd 2013

Contact details Editor Janet H Brown, 2 Annfield Grove,

Stirling, FK8 2BN

jan.brown@dsl.pipex.com

Chairman: Walter Speirs, Muckairn Mussels,

Achnacloich, Connel, Argyll, PA37 1PR

walter.speirs@btconnect.com

Treasurer

Stephen Cameron, stephenc@scottishshellfish.co.uk

Other members of management committee;-

David Attwood david.attwood@lochfyne.com

Nick Turnbull nick.iomo@btinternet.com

Cree MacKenzie ‎.. cree@scaliscro.co.uk

Tristan Hugh-Jones.. tristan@oysters.co.uk

ASSG conference October 24-25th

The Grower — 6

Portaferry conference Janet Brown reports

Intimate shellfish conferences in Portaferry were

once a regular event organised by Dai Roberts, Queen's

University, Belfast. After a gap of some three years it

was great to be there again with the prospect of future

events also, since the new Ibis project (see Grower July

2012), based in the Portaferry marine laboratory, is

committed to running a number of such knowledge

transfer workshops (KTW).

This was the first KTW organised for the shellfish

side of the project and the theme was "shellfish

regulation and management". This slightly forbidding

title rather disguises the aim of the workshop which was

to show how management can enhance and augment

fisheries and production systems to everyone's benefit,

and show how working together provides positive

benefits to all.

This aim was nicely highlighted by the opening

speaker, Dr Erin Owen of Husson University, Bangor,

USA, who talked about the booming lobster industry in

her home state of Maine which presented a real danger

now of any community rely on a single species fishery,

and the efforts their management teams were putting in

to trying to revive the once productive scallop fishery to

give more long term economic and environmental

security. This was being done by operating a system of

closed areas and managing these as effectively as

possible with promising results. The risk of over-

reliance on the one fishery is quite stark since some of

the lobster populations to the south of Maine are being

devastated by lobster shell disease.

Adam Reid and Cowan Higgins gave interesting

talks, on regulation of shellfish movement and biotoxin

monitoring respectively, to make sure the audience

knew the current state of legislation and what was

happening in the marine biotoxin world.

The subsequent sessions were divided by species

interests. The first of these was on the native oyster and

it has to be hugely encouraging that there will be so

much work on the native species as part of the Ibis

Project. Dai Roberts gave a succinct but very broad

overview including a quick canter through old

publications which is where anyone looking at native

oyster has to start since we have lost touch with this

species that was once so common, and more

importantly, once so highly studied.

Ciaran McGonigle talked of work to improve the

production of Lough Foyle, the biggest native oyster

fishery in Europe. This will be one study area for one of

the PhD. programme being run as part of Ibis.

Bonamiasis is affecting the populations here so it was

appropriate that the next speaker was Sarah Culloty, an

expert on this very topic. She talked about the project

OYSTERECOVER which studies efforts to control the

causative parasite, Bonamia ostreae. The session

concluded with Dennis O'Shea talking from the sharp

end of the efforts of the fishermen of Tralee Bay to

restore and conserve their oyster stocks. This was most

encouraging news but also clearly a very difficult

system to establish since with their strict quotas and

different time frames it was a highly complex system.

The next session was on Pacific oysters. This had

two main thrusts: one being efforts to "live with" the

oyster herpesvirus (OsHV-1 µvar), which has been

widely introduced in Northern Ireland and the other on

feral Crassostrea gigas. The first talk, by Martin

Flanagan, (pictured above) was rather more than just

“how to live with herpes” since he was telling us about

an EFF funded project to improve oyster production

despite the presence of the herpes virus. So he was

reporting on trials to find better methods than trestle

culture, use of data loggers for temperature, (since

temperature is always reported as a factor in expression

of the herpes virus) and other innovations. His take

home message was that the best research is farm based

research since so much oyster growth is site specific

and he is clearly encouraging growers to conduct trials

to optimise their own farm’s performance, with or

without the presence of the virus.

Fabrice Richez, as part of the same EFF funded

project that Martin was reporting on, had been

commissioned to study what the French were doing

about the same problem and their efforts at control.

One disturbing aspect of what he said was that the

herpes virus was actually increasing oyster price so was

not necessarily being seen as a bad thing everywhere.

What the French are doing is not necessarily the same

as saying what is most effective since Fabrice’s report

included mention of trials on magnet therapy and also

the use of mussels to reduce herpes virus particles and

also mention of imports into France of oysters from

Japan and Brazil.

The “other” aspect of C gigas was covered by a

tandem presentation from Tasman Crowe and Danielle

Green of University College Dublin on the Simbiosys

project (www.tcd.ie/research/simbiosys)

The Grower — 7

The first session of the next morning of the

conference was on mussels, which for Irish interests

concentrated on bottom mussel culture but was

introduced by an exposition from Prof Gavin Burnell

(pictured above) on “what mussels want” which gave an

overview from his studies on the behaviour of mussel

larvae, of their limited tendency to move far and the

studies showing seed mussel beds are not necessarily

lost over winter but can persist quite well, and that even

at less than a year in age are reproductively active. The

bottom mussel culturists’ view was given in a lively

style from Brian Cunningham who bottom-farms

mussels on Carlingford Lough where problems can be

more to do with getting the produce to market in the

short time-frame to optimise prices, and ensuring

temperature acclimation is sorted carefully enough

between Ireland and re-watering in Holland to ensure

minimal transport losses. He stressed the importance of

their MSC certification which was, interestingly mostly

important for getting access to the market itself. This

may indicate the end consumer is not the real arbiter in

these matters but the bulk buyers. Nicholas Chopin of

BIM concluded the session with a description of their

survey work on mussel stocks and the benefits of using

the side scan sonar system.

In the concluding lobster session the tie in between

science and fisheries was again to the forefront with

Colin Nelson presenting the fishermen’s work on V

notching of lobsters alongside Paulo Prodohl of QUB

explaining how the fishermen had actually come to him

with the suggestion of DNA profiling the V notched

lobsters from their egg samples and tail notches.

Interestingly this work like the mussels work showed

that the possession of planktonic larvae does not equate

to wide geographic spread since their work was finding

that the majority of lobsters remained where they were

bred. The session concluded with a talk on the

Nephrops fishery from Richard Briggs.

The poster displays provided by the MSc and PhD

students (Pictured below) as part of the Ibis project

suggest there will be enough material to whet the

interest of anyone with an interest in shellfish in all

aspects: from management strategies for native oyster,

bottom cultured mussels, lobsters including external

aspects such as climate change to inter- species

interactions as between birds and shellfish and the two

species of oyster. New projects have also still to be

established. See the project website www.loughs-

agency.org/ibis for further information. Abstracts and a

full programme are available there. Below: group

photograph of final day participants at the conference.

The Grower — 8

MUSSEL TALK

3-Socking mussels- Success factors and mishaps to watch for John C Bonardelli, Shellfish Solutions AS

For many growers, socking your mussels is an

obvious next step this fall after placing collectors in the

sea, and probably an ongoing activity in your production

planning. Yet how many can boast that they are

successful at it, or rather that they attain the yields that

socking is supposed to bring? In most cases, good

results after socking are related to smart preparation,

timely handling at sea, and proper materials. In my

evaluation of socking mishaps, which may appear as fall

-off, poor spat attachment or mortality in the months

following socking, most failures seem to be related to a

variety of logistic errors committed during socking

itself.

Why sock in the first place? There are several

reasons, the most common being better control over

density and over the range of sizes at socking, which in

turn: optimizes the

potential growth rate,

shortens the time to

market, reduces the risk

of fouling, limits fall-off

and provides higher

yields in commercial

biomass, with less waste

at harvest.

The ultimate goal in

socking mussels is thus

to obtain the highest

commercial yields in the

shortest possible time

with minimal waste.

This paper presents some of the more obvious 'dos'

and 'don’ts', which should help your production

planning evolve. For the more persistent cases when

socking doesn't seem to work just right, some on-site

evaluation may be required to refine the logistics with

individual producers.

There are basically 3 stages to obtain successful

results in socking: Planning, execution and follow-up.

Planning. In the previous Grower (July 2012) - “2-

Spat recovery options”, I exposed three different

settlement strategies, ranging from 'single set', 'double

or multiple sets', and 'second set'. So before we start

socking, it's important to sample some collectors lines to

establish the size distribution of your spat, and what’s

out there. You want to know the spat density (number

spat per metre), from which you calculate the total

available spat for socking, from all spat lines. You may

have 1800 spat/metre, but realize that after grading only

78% (1400/mm) is within the size range you want to

sock. If you have

5000 metres

collectors, you will

likely sock 10,000

m at 700/metre, if

you use large

diameter material

like NZ rope.

Further, you

may have 2 separate

size groups, which

you want to sock as

small (10-25mm)

and medium (30-

40mm) spat. In the

example shown,

(see figure 2 at

bottom of page) it so

happens that if you

grade properly, each

group provides about 700 spat/m to sock, so that 1m

collector yields 2 m socked spat. Next, identify which

lines are free to install your small and medium spat.

Decide what core rope will best hold your spat. Is

it old salmon netting, NZ core rope, old fishing rope,

or some plastic material? Personally, due to its

longevity, level of socking efficiency and harvest

speed, I prefer the NZ ropes, which hold higher spat

John Bonardelli is an interna-

tional shellfish advisor who

works individually or with

large grower-processor groups

in a region to improve their

production efficiency and

yields, and help them imple-

ment management strategies so

they can be more profitable.

shellfish.solutions@gmail.

Figure 2: Size frequency of spat on collector Figure 1:High-yield socked

mussels

The Grower — 9

densities due to their diameter and available settlement

surface. Your production volume and location defines

your methods, based on your ability to invest, the length

of your production cycle, your husbandry and the depth

at which mussels can grow.

Execution. There are few elements in shellfish

culture that we can really control, so when we can we

should make every effort to master our task. Socking is

actually the only production stage where a grower

decides the fate of his mussels; where machine

technology, environmental conditions and mussel

biology interact in a short time frame. How you handle

the spat will determine what you have to harvest later.

Check your machinery beforehand: Make sure that

your stripper, declumper-grader and conveyor do not

crush or dislocate your spat. Provide lots of water

during the process and test that your grader bars actually

fit the spat size structure you want to group together.

Does the waste include too many big mussels? I have

rarely seen perfect grading bar distances, mostly

because of poor welding or distortion over time, yet this

is the most important tool in the industry for selecting

size of spat, as well as for grading out valuable market

size mussels. Handle spat with care: Spat should be

hauled out, declumped and graded without damaging or

crushing them. They should be held on deck for as short

a time as possible.

With cotton socking, you can install (ruck) up to

1km onto a 2m tube

(bottom), whereas only

500m (top portion of

photo) if it is not

rucked at all. This

ensures that less time is

wasted at sea when a 3-

man crew has to stop

for 10min to change a

tube.

The socks should

sink immediately.

Avoid the freshly

socked mussels floating on the surface for the minutes

it takes the rope to sink, which can cause clumping of

spat and eventually greater losses. Higher post-socking

yields are obtained when the seed and the core rope are

pre-soaked: meaning that the spat do not fill with air

while they are held in the socking bin too long, and the

rope is immersed in sea water prior to socking.

Socking perfection. It's not complicated but it takes

experience. A good socking team will test the density of

the socks during the day, to make sure they're getting

the 700/m. This is especially important when you

change seed size. The fresh sock is placed across a

known distance and the two ends tied before cutting the

cotton to let the spat fall out and be counted. From this

you can adjust the socking machine.

Why be satisfied with 5kg/metre that requires more

longlines to produce commercial yields when you can

obtain 7kg/m and be more efficient?

Follow-up. Socking

operations usually take several months, and may even

be spread over fall and spring, which is a big bonus for

staggering production.

Don't take anything for granted once socking is

underway. After 3-4 weeks, it's wise to go back on the

socked lines, and do a recount of the live spat in the

sock. Check the density, and observe if they well

byssed. If they are clumped or densities are too low,

you should check your methods and refine them.

Lastly, if you use the wrong flotation, or put too

many floats at once, the lines will jolt the spat during

storms and greater losses will occur. Keep an eye out

for predatory ducks and new fouling during the final

stretch.

Figure 3:Measuring the grading bar distances for uni-

formity

Figure 4:Rucking

cotton onto sock tube

Figure 5:Testing spat density

during socking

Figure 6: Even density socks sinking fast and vertically

down

The Grower — 10

Notes from ‘Down Under’

Doug McLeod

Editor, Australian SeaFOOD Magazine; Managing Director, Glenelg Shellfish, - Aquaculture Consultants

As a result of editing the ‘Australian seaFOOD’

magazine’, I have been expanding my experience of the

seafood industry, in post-harvest issues in general and

specifically in market development and consumer

behaviour.

Despite frequent advice from locals to the effect that

Oz consumers are ‘different’ to those in Europe, I’m

fairly sure that fundamentally seafood purchases are

driven by the same desires and competitive reactions in

both markets. There are some clear parallels in supply

chains, with products following economic gravity to

markets which recognise their premium value - lobsters

from the Scottish Northern Isles find their way to

markets in Europe which place a high price on the

product, while here Australian rock lobsters and abalone

are similarly largely exported to Asia (aka China) where

prices are significantly higher than in the domestic

market.

The big problem for the Australian industry is trying

to persuade people to consume more seafood – those

who do eat fin- and shellfish probably enjoy it

frequently, as the species choice is extraordinarily wide

– however there is a majority of the population who

only consume seafood very occasionally , and then most

likely canned tuna or canned salmon. National

consumption is stable at around 400 thousand tons/year,

with local fisheries and aquaculture providing some

60% of the total.

Expense is the main constraint (and seafood is

expensive in Australia, e.g. farmed salmon fillets at

$30/Kg (£19.50), Yellowfin tuna $50/Kg (£32.50),

Pacific Oysters at $13/Dozen (8.45), vacpac Black

Mussels at $10/Kilo (6.50) in my local fishmongers),

combined with a lack of confidence in selecting,

preparing and cooking fish – both well recognised

species and lesser known and undervalued fish.

Oysters in restaurant have also become expensive,

with a starter of a half dozen costing between $17 and

$24 (£11.00 and 15.60) – and inevitably demand has

suffered.

So it has been interesting, in my role with the

magazine, to observe the various different approaches to

attempting to stimulate seafood demand (and

preferentially domestically produced products):

One of the main South Australian prawn

fisheries has gone for MSC accreditation* (at a

cost of around $300K – despite survey evidence

that consumers don’t consider sustainability

when making purchasing decisions) and

targeting of ‘premium’ markets both locally and

in other States, accompanied by a barrage of

media releases. No results available yet, but it

may have more impact on margins than volumes;

In Queensland a project focused on farmed

Barramundi in a single fish store, including

additional information for staff, the presence of

the fish farmer supplier of the product and in-

store tasting of pan fried Barramundi. The

results of this mini-blitz were significant

increases in sales over the previous week, but no

evidence of a sustained increase in sales;

Novel added value products are also being

developed, including Blue Swimmer Crab Cakes

(which appear to have been a hit with both

retailers and restaurants), sardine raw and

crumbed fillets in frozen packs (as currently the

overwhelming majority of the sardine catch –

which is the largest single species caught, by

volume – is used for feed in the tuna ‘ranching’

sector)..

As for oysters, the promotional activity appears to

be mainly the ‘feel good’ approach – the taste good,

they’re healthy, local ‘green & clean’, etc (see photo on

facing page for ‘image’). I have my doubts as to

whether this is a viable long term strategy for the

industry.

There are numerous individual corporate efforts to

promote consumption of domestic seafood, but it’s

proving to be a hard row to hoe in the face of

competition from lower cost imports and other protein

sources with significantly better funded promotional

campaigns.

There are clearly marketing and promotional

‘strategies’ and specific approaches that are able to – at

least in the short term – boost sales. However, as the

cost of living generally rises and economic concerns

continue to worry Australian consumers, it seems

unlikely that we are going to witness a major expansion

in overall domestic consumption of seafood in the near

future.

e-mail: dougmcleod@aol.com.au

*Editor’s note: see comment from Brian Cunningham

reported on page 7 saying he needed his MSC certification

just to access the market.

The Grower — 11

Shellfish safety conference in Sydney

The International Conference on Molluscan Shellfish

Safety (ICMSS) is without doubt the premier world

Conference focusing on the wide range of topics that

affect molluscan shellfish safety for the consumer, from

microbiology and biotoxins through to policy

determination and risk assessment and management,

from chemical analytical methods, sampling regimes and

regulatory standards through to harvesting area sanitary

surveys. And the next ICMSS will be held in Sydney,

Australia, from 17th - 22nd March 2013, headed by Co-

Chairs Dr Catherine McLeod and Professor Gustaaf

Hallegraeff.

ICMSS is an unrivalled forum for scientists,

regulators, policy makers and industry representatives

from around the world to meet and discuss advances in

these areas in both formal and informal meetings,

developing international views on the full range of

issues and creating the opportunity for the establishment

and maintenance of networks.

Confirmed speakers include, from the USA:

Anamarija Frankic (University of Massachusetts), who

spoke at the 2007 ASSG Conference, William Burkhart

and Angelo DePaola (FDA); and from the EU: Ana

Gago-Martinez (Community Reference Lab for

Biotoxins), Joe Silke (Marine Institute) and Soizick Le

Guyader (Ifremer).

The first formal ICMSS was held in Sydney,

Australia, in November 1994, followed at 3 year

intervals by meetings in the Philippines and the USA in

2000. The Conference moved to a 2 year rotation

thereafter, heading across to Europe, convening in Spain

in 2002 and Ireland in 2004. A minor 9 month disruption

to this regime saw the 6th Conference returning to the

Southern Hemisphere in New Zealand in 2007 (with an

‘almost ICMSS’ held in the USA in 2006), before

returning to the two year tempo with gatherings in

France (2009) and Canada (2011). It may be a few

months before the twentieth anniversary for a return to

Sydney, however it feels appropriate to return to the

original location in 2013!

Sydney is a fantastic location for this Conference,

with its world class harbour and metropolitan facilities,

including a terrific array of restaurants covering just

about every culinary tradition you could contemplate, as

well as the great weather!

One innovation at next year’s ICMSS will be the

introduction of a specific ‘Industry Session’ (Chaired by

Richie Flynn, Executive Secretary with the Irish

Shellfish Association, current President of EMPA),

focussing on industry issues relating to shellfish safety,

including “adding value to the industry” which must be

a subject close to growers’ hearts! A second innovation

is a reduced rate for ‘industry’ Registrations (at $670

this represents a one third reduction on the cost of a

Standard Registration)!!

And the half day field trip to The Hawkesbury

Estuary oyster growing area and the field exercise on

shore surveys and dye testing (courtesy of the USA

FDA) will surely interest all mollusc growers. So

although Sydney is a long way from Scotland, a trip

‘down under’ in late winter sounds like a good

investment!

Full details are available on the website:

www.icmss2013.com

Further information, including an outline of the

Conference Programme and Registration details, is

available from Conference Co-Chair Dr Catherine

McLeod, South Australian Research & Development

Institute (SARDI): cath.mcleod@sa.gov.au and from the

ICMSS website (www.icmss2013.com ).

Pictured right: the oyster

“feel-good” image referred to

on facing page

The Grower — 12

The low-carbon impact of shellfish as a food

product has been confirmed by a new research project

published by SARF. The report, Carbon Footprint of

Scottish Suspended Mussels and Intertidal Oysters, is

the findings of a sector wide project involving a range

of players in the Scottish shellfish industry.

The project, funded by the Scottish Aquaculture

Research Forum (SARF) and The Crown Estate,

assessed the carbon footprint of mussel and oyster

farming of selected shellfish farmers and found the

shellfish to be favourable in carbon terms compared to

other protein sources. Especially suspended mussels

were shown to have a very small carbon footprint of

only 0.25 kg carbon dioxide equivalents per kg mussels

harvested, or 0.6 kg carbon dioxide equivalents per kg

mussel meat. The carbon footprint of intertidal oysters

was found to be 1.3 kg carbon dioxide equivalents per

kg oysters harvested, or 8.8 kg carbon dioxide

equivalents per kg oyster meat.

The figures, which cover the cradle-to-gate carbon

footprint, include hatchery operations, material use

during growing, farm operations in terms of cultivation

and harvesting, depuration, and packaging. Of these,

more than half of the footprint is associated with the

electricity and fuel used in the farm operations of

cultivating and harvesting the shellfish. When

including depuration, the contribution from electricity

and fuel use increases to 62% for mussels and 81% for

oysters.

Shared learning from the project could help make a

real positive contribution to reducing the environmental

impacts of shellfish production further. The findings

confirm that managing electricity and fuel use is the

most obvious place to seek to achieve climate change

reductions. This is supported by the considerable

variance in the data provided by the different shellfish

farmers. The variance is partly due to variations in

production achieved, distances to the grow beds, period

of time when depuration is required etc, but may also

spotlight best practice and thereby efficiencies that

could be implemented industry wide.

The cost of fuel has

already made many

farmers look closely at

their fuel consumptions

and there are many

optimisation examples to

be shared. The

construction and

maintenance of vessels

and equipment are

fundamental in keeping

fuel costs down and as

such also in lowering the

carbon footprint.

Operating vessels only

when required and

combining multiple

tasks, as well as using

appropriately sized

vessels all help promote

fuel efficiency. Using

harvesting vessel

contractors, or farmers

sharing vessels, may help

ensure the vessels are

fully utilised, with

upgrading likely to be

achieved more quickly.

Efficiency in stationary

equipment may be

achieved through the promotion of non-idle operation

and depuration only when tanks are filled to full

capacity. Installing renewable forms of electricity

generation is another option for footprint reduction.

Many retailers and brand owners are looking to

reduce the carbon impacts of products they produce and

sell. This provides an opportunity to promote the

benefits of shellfish. At the same time this is also an

opportunity for identifying improvement opportunities.

Measuring the carbon footprinting is the first step

towards managing the environmental impacts of one’s

products. A project such

as this helps SARF and

its members to spot

carbon reduction

opportunities and focus

efforts where the

reductions are significant

and enable cost savings

at the same time. The full report, “Carbon

Footprint of Scottish

Suspended Mussels and

Intertidal Oysters is

available on

www.sarf.org.uk/cms-assets/documents/43896-

326804.sarf078.pdf

Jonna Meyhoff Fry is Senior

Consultant within the Product

Sustainability Services team of

Environmental Resources

Management (ERM), a global

environmental, health, safety,

risk and social consultancy.

She specialises in supporting

companies to improve the

environmental impact of their

products across the full life

cycle of the products. Jonna is

the technical author of the

supplementary requirements for

seafood under the PAS 2050,

and is currently finishing a

project for The Crown Estate

looking at the environmental

feasibility of using seaweed for

biofuel production

Let’s shout about mussels and oysters as low-carbon food products

Jonna Meyhoff Fry, ERM

The Grower — 13

World Oyster Society seeks members

The Oyster World Congress, to be held from 28th

November to 2nd December, Arcachon Bay, France,

will bring together stakeholders from 5 continents:

Africa, America, Asia,Europe, and Oceania. Some of

the largest oyster producing countries will be

represented, including Korea, China, the United States,

and, of course, Japan, as well as other countries where

oyster-farming is less well-known or currently

developing. Altogether, around twenty countries will be

represented.

Plenary sessions and workshops will focus on

oyster farming current issues : current state of oyster-

farming resources, ecosystems, marketing of the

oysters and the management of activities. During the

Plenary session n°1, we will discover oyster-farming

around the world thanks to oyster-growers : Mr Satoru

Urabe will explain oyster farming in Japan, Mr Richie

Flynn will take the floor for Europe, while Mr Rachid

Kandy should explain us how oyster-farming is

developed in Morocco. If you would like to have an

overview of the draft programme, please download it on

the website.

After these 3 days conference, delegates will be

invited to discover the Arcachon Bay and its oyster

heritage, with a visit to the “Cabanes en Fête” festival to

taste local oysters, see art exhibitions and a specific one

on oyster cultivation around the world and take part in

special activities. An optional programme is proposed

for participants who would like to visit Bordeaux on

Sunday, with a reception by the Mayor, former Prime

Minister Alain Juppé.

The Arcachon Aquitaine Regional Committee of

Shellfish Growers expects approximately 120 delegates.

To take part to this first Oyster World Congress, register

now : www.oysterworldcongress2012.com.

The vision of the

World Oyster

Society (WOS) is

to, “Bring together

the oyster people of

the world for the

benefit of

mankind”. The

WOS is looking for an increase in its membership from

Great Britain.

One of the main objectives of the WOS is to host

the International Oyster Symposium every two years.

The latest conference, the 4th International Oyster

Symposium (IOS4) was held jointly with Oysters

Tasmania and the WOS in Tasmania, September 2011,

and it was also run in conjunction with, “Shellfish

Futures 2011”, the annual Tasmanian oyster industry

conference. About 200 people attended from 15

countries. and there were 7 Keynote Speeches and

about 60 oral/ poster presentations relating to the

theme of IOS4, "Embracing the Future through

Innovation".

Membership of WOS is free for the present. And a

mission statement is, “To be an instrument of goodwill,

friendship and cooperation for all who have some

linkage to oyster research, production and use

anywhere in the World”. We encourage all oyster

people to join!

You can join WOS online at www.worldoyster.org/

membership_e.html

Oyster World Congress : register now!

Marie Bournazel provides an update

The Grower — 14

these rapid changes will

affect all life in the

oceans. We already

have some information

on the potential effects

on commercially-

important marine

species.

Laboratory

experiments have

revealed dramatic

reductions (by 30%) in

adult mussel shell

formation at pH levels

that we may see by the

end of the century, but

by the same token, adult

oysters were much more

tolerant to the altered

conditions. It seems that

the ability to resist or

adapt to change varies

from species to species

and scientists are still

trying to discover how

we can predict which

species might be

affected. Other studies

have shown that the

early life stages of

shellfish, such as the

larvae and spat are more

sensitive to

environmental stressors,

including OA. As such,

it is critical to consider

the whole life-cycle of a

species when trying to

assess how it will

respond to OA.

Gaps in knowledge

There is still much

we don’t know about

how OA will affect

marine life. We would

like to provide the

shellfish industry with

clear, concise messages

about the potential

impacts of OA (and future climate changes) so more

work still needs to be done. With this in mind, a 5-year

£12M project started in the UK in 2010 to undertake in-

depth studies on the effects of OA on all aspects of

marine ecology, biogeochemistry and potential social

and economic impacts. The UK Ocean Acidification

research programme (www.oceanacidification.org.uk),

which receives funding from the Department for

‘Ocean acidification’ (OA) is an environmental issue

currently attracting a large amount of attention. While it

is a major issue of concern for marine scientists it

should be a concern for all who have a stake in the

health of the marine environment and its inhabitants and

perhaps especially shellfish growers. OA could affect

the formation of adult bivalve shell, but could have far

greater impact on the development of the larval and

juvenile stages with serious implications for

reproductive success and recruitment into the adult

population; it could also affect the plankton that

shellfish feed on. This makes OA something the

shellfish industry may want or need to know more about

[See box on opposite page].

Shellfish and their water environment

The ability of bivalve molluscs to thrive in their

environment depends on a combination of variables

including temperature, food availability and pH level (a

measure of the acidity/alkalinity). It is this latter element

and how it contributes to the discussion of OA which is

the focus of this article.

Shellfish can survive in waters which have a pH

level of between 7 and 9, but particularly for early life-

stages, levels at or near the pre-industrial level of 8.2 are

necessary for successful growth. Yet, over the last two

centuries, ocean acidity has increased by around 30%

(equivalent to a drop in mean pH of 0.1) and this rate of

change is expected to accelerate over the coming

decades. This phenomenon, referred to as ‘ocean

acidification’, describes the steadily decreasing pH

levels of oceans from the pre-industrial level of 8.2.

Under normal circumstances seawater can keep itself in

balance and maintain its pH level. However, due to the

sheer scale and increasing growth in the types of human

activities which generate more carbon dioxide (CO2)

and contribute to OA (burning of fossil fuels, cement

production, deforestation, discharges from industries

and runoffs from farms) pH levels are, in absolute terms,

decreasing.

In the case of carbon dioxide (CO2), the gas is

absorbed by the sea to form carbonic acid (H2CO3)

which then rapidly dissociates into hydrogen ions (H+)

(Fig. 1-top of facing page). These ions are responsible

for the drop in the ocean’s pH level and which the ocean

tries to regulate through reactions with free carbonate

ions (CO32-) to produce bicarbonate (HCO3

-). However,

as more free CO32- are used to balance the seawater’s pH

level, less are available for the shellfish which use them

throughout their lives to form and maintain their

calcium carbonate (CaCO3) shells.

Effects of ocean acidification on shellfish

These changes to ocean chemistry are happening

faster than anything experienced over the last 300

million years of Earth’s history. By the end of this

century, the pH of the surface ocean is projected to be

0.4 – 0.5 pH units lower than the present day.

Unsurprisingly, marine scientists are concerned by how

Ocean acidification and shellfish

Frances Hopkins and Eleni Papathanasopoulou

Dr Frances Hopkins is a marine

chemist from Plymouth Marine

Laboratory. Her research is

focussed on the production and

cycling of climatically-important

marine trace gases in the surface

oceans, particularly in the context

of ocean acidification. She has

worked in the field and on

research cruises in Norway, Italy,

the eastern Atlantic, Svalbard, the

NW European shelf and the

Arctic Ocean (fhop@pml.ac.uk).

Dr Eleni Papathanasopoulou is

an environmental economist at

the Plymouth Marine Laboratory.

Her research interests and

expertise lie in the carbon

mapping of economic activities,

scoping the impacts of different

technologies on marine ecosystem

services and facilitating

participatory workshops

(elpa@pml.ac.uk).

The Grower — 15

Environment Farming and Rural Affairs (Defra), the

Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and the

Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC),

involves around 150 scientists from 23 universities and

research institutions, and is currently in the critical data-

gathering phase. Currently underway at Swansea and

Exeter Universities, state-of the art experiments are

targeting the effects of OA on commercially important

species. The Swansea team selected species including

herring (Clupea harengus), Dublin Bay prawn

(Nephrops norvegicus) and the Pacific oyster

(Crassostrea gigas) as representing UK interests.

Typical experiments at the Swansea University Centre

for Sustainable Aquatic Research (CSAR) raise eggs/

larvae under different pH and temperature regimes to

investigate the physiological and behavioural responses

(Fig. 2). The Exeter group have been looking at the

effects of OA and temperature increases on early life

stages in mussels (Mytilus edulis) and Pacific oysters.

By looking at sperm function, fertilisation success,

larval growth and survival and settlement success, they

can assess if the predicted seawater conditions for the

end of century affect any of these stages. Plymouth

Marine Laboratory (PML) is using the output of these

experiments to understand the impacts of OA on the

industries dependent upon these species. Elsewhere at

PML experiments are being carried out to assess the

Your Invitation!

Find out more—and also tell scientists what you need to know for the industry?

If you would like to find out more about OA and

discuss how it is relevant to the shellfish industry, as

well as receiving insight into the on-going UK research

including the most recent laboratory results, a

workshop, followed by a drinks reception, will be

held at the Scottish Association for Marine Sciences

(SAMS) on Tuesday 23rd October 2012 at 18.30-20.00

pm –as part of the ASSG Annual Conference. The

workshop aims to provide shellfish growers with

initial, concise messages about the potential impacts of

OA and we would strongly encourage your

participation. We also aim to establish a dialogue with

the industry to identify the kind of information that you

would like to receive about this important issue. What

do you need to know? How best can we relay this

information to you? What would you find beneficial

from similar future events? Finally, are there any areas

that hold potential for co-developing possible

adaptation and mitigation measures? If you are

interested in taking part in this workshop, please

indicate this on your conference registration. If you

have already registered, please contact Carol

Thomson, carol@muckairn-mussels.com to let her

know you will be attending.

response of intertidal communities to ocean acidification

and rising temperatures over an 18 month period (Fig.

3). Assessing the response of the intertidal ecosystem to

environmental change is vital as these productive

environments serve as key feeding and breeding

grounds for many commercially-important shellfish

species

Figure 2. The controlled environment laboratory at CSAR is able to expose organisms to different experimental conditions over long

periods of time. Four independent recirculating aquaculture systems

maintain different pH levels via computer-controlled injection of compressed CO2. Two systems keep a pH equivalent to current at-

mospheric conditions whilst the other two are set to 750ppm pCO2

(at the lower end of the predicted atmospheric CO2 concentration by 2100). Each system is also set to maintain either the local water

temperature, or the local water temperature +2°C, giving 4 different

experimental conditions. Photo: Ed Pope, Swansea University

Figure 3 Above Scientists at Plymouth Marine Laboratory investigate the effects of ocean acidification on intertidal communities in long-

term (18 month) experiments with tightly controlled temperature and

CO2 levels. Photo; Plymouth Marine Laboratory

The Grower — 16

SSMG opens new shellfish processing facility Janet Brown reports

In these days of recession how come the Scottish

Shellfish Marketing Group (SSMG) are moving to new,

larger premises? Michael Laurenson, the chairman of

SSMG elucidated five good reasons why they were in

this enviable position, with an increase in turnover of

85% over the last 5 years to the current £12m business,

and with the cooperative’s members and suppliers

farming over 70% of the total mussels and oysters grown

in Scotland (by tonnage). This was at a celebratory

seafood lunch in a marquee outside the new factory,

officially opened on 24th August, which was perfect

illustration for the points he was making.

Michael asked, "What are the strengths of SSMG and

what is this success built on?" He suggested that this was

firstly due to the

credibility of the

product; that Scotland

can produce the very

best seafood on the

planet. He said that

SSMG had chosen to

concentrate on

supplying the home

market, which was more

difficult initially, and

educating the local

market has helped encourage demand via projects such

as “Seafood in Schools”, and innovative shellfish

focused restaurants such as Mussels Inn etc. The

pristine environment, plankton rich and unpolluted

waters allowing production of big meated shellfish was

another while the dedication of the growers themselves,

their belief in their product that has often meant their

shellfish got more attention than their children did!

Consistent service levels; with growers sometimes

harvesting at night to ensure deliveries to SSMG in time

for customers were another big factor and lastly but far

from least, the foresight of the people who set up SSMG

in 1992. Producing a successful cooperative made up of

the independent minded growers was not an easy task

and “with an excellent management team, with similar

values who believe in the business, who live and breathe

its best interests, instilling operational excellence

through the process which is delivered by our excellent

staff. All to give consumers not just product they are

happy with, but exceptionally happy with.”

Developing the new factory had been necessary to

meet demand and to not allow any complacency in

progress so far and Michael particularly commended the

management team that it was delivered on time and

below price. He thanked the funding agencies, the

Scottish Government, EFF team, and Scottish Enterprise

and the RBS without whose help the project would not

have been possible. Stephen Cameron MD of SSMG

responded before the participants enjoyed the

sumptuous seafood spread

Pictures, Michael Laurenson making his speech, the

seafood feast, and below some SSMG members who

were able to attend from far and wide, plus Stephen

Cameron and David Ingram Photos J Brown

The Grower — 17

Oyster marketing Janet Brown gleans ideas from over the water

I came across an article in a fraternal publication,

the East Coast shellfish Growers Association September

2012 Newsletter available at www.ecsga.org/. I read on

because the front page was chatting about the visit of

Tasmanian oyster grower Ian Duthie whose name was

familiar to me because he was planning to visit

Scotland. He met with Kelsey Thompson and Walter

Speirs here and I was sorry to miss him but was away

at the time. However, the ECGSA chairman, Robert

(Skid) Rheault had been impressed with many things he

had said but one thing really caught my eye and with

permission from Skid I copy it here –

“Ian points out that (at least for oysters) we need to

think more in terms of “selling the experience” than

“selling a meal.” To connect with consumers you need

to tell them about your farm, your “way of life” and

your waters. Raw-bar visitors want to have a friendly,

knowledgeable shucker who can tell them about the

product and regale them with bawdy jokes. The typical

raw-bar customer cares less about the product than we

oyster snobs do; gobs of cocktail sauce and horseradish

mask the experience for them. But they relish the cachet

and the thrill of trying something a little risky”. I might

have written risqué there but the idea really resonated

with what I had observed at the Scottish Foodies

festival held in August in Edinburgh. I went along with

a friend courtesy of a complimentary ticket from Judith

Vajk – but it took some time to get to see Judith. The

Caledonian Oyster stall certainly was by far the busiest

at a thriving fair when I was there and it was not just a

question of “let’s buy an oyster” but clearly more of a

chance to try something different, and often egged on

by friends. I am not sure Judith goes for the bawdy

stories but the idea of selling an experience clearly

means it will be different things to different folk.

Tristan Hugh-Jones asked to comment said, “Yes, we

would agree. We sell oysters at the BBC good food

shows at the NEC and London, and once you drum up

excitement...the crowd loves it.”

SNH Species action framework conference be done next for targeted species management in

Scotland.

Around 40 speakers will represent a wide range of

SAF species and there will be poster displays featuring

work on the native oyster and sargassum.

Further details including conference programme and

booking form can be found at http://www.snh.gov.uk/

protecting-scotlands-nature/species-action-framework/

saf-conference-2012 Places are limited and will be

issued on a first come first served basis.

SNH are organising a conference "Managing

Species in a Challenging Climate: Scotland's Species

Action Framework", to be held at the Royal Botanic

Gardens Edinburgh, 22-23 November 2012. This 2 day conference will bring together specialists

and practitioners of targeted species management in

Scotland to reflect on the achievements of Scotland's

five year Species Action Framework (SAF) which

ended in March this year. It will also consider how to

learn from experiences of SAF and examine what can

Pictured left: Tristan Hugh Jones “drumming up excitement”

and above, Judith Vajk doing the same at the Foodies

Festival with her son, Angus, Scottish champion shucker of

2011, and his pal and stalwart helper, Euan Graham.

The Grower — 18

OYSTERECOVER- Strategies to recover European flat oyster production by tackling the main constraint, the disease bonamiasis. Sarah Culloty, Sharon Lynch, Grace Flannery

OYSTERECOVER is an industry led project

funded under the EU FP7 Capacities programme. It

is a three year collaborative project involving

seven research centres and seven European

shellfish producers and representative associations

from six countries – Ireland, UK, Denmark, the

Netherlands, France, Spain,. The main objective of

the project is to aid conservation of the native flat

oyster Ostrea edulis ultimately resulting in more

production of this oyster throughout Europe. The

European oyster has been significantly reduced

over the past 30 years due to disease but prior to

this by uncontrolled overfishing in a number of

regions and lack of management of beds. The main

disease problems continue to be due to the parasite

Bonamia ostreae. B. ostreae has no implications

for human health but it is a serious disease of flat

oysters and is listed as a notifiable disease. The

main aim of OYSTERECOVER is help recovery

of the oyster by learning more about this parasite

and mechanisms to control and reduce its impact.

The introduction of B. ostreae has had a hugely

detrimental effect on oyster numbers with

mortality levels of up to 80% reported in

populations in the years after the parasite has been

introduced. Bonamia is widespread in flat oyster

populations in Europe and it occurs in some oyster

growing areas in England, Ireland, Scotland and

Wales. The parasite was first detected in Scottish

flat oysters in April 2006 in Loch Sunart and was

subsequently detected in flat oysters in West Loch

Tarbet in 2008. The disease spreads directly from

oyster to oyster but it is not known for certain if

this represents the only way oysters can become

infected – for instance if other animals can harbour

the parasite and transmit it to oysters or whether it

can survive in the sediment. Of particular

importance in the control of the disease is the fact

that to date, the parasite has not been eradicated

from any area after it has been introduced despite a

number of attempts by leaving oyster beds fallow –

in some instances for several years. Experience to

date indicates that on reintroduction of oysters to

these fallow areas the disease re-emerges.

However, some tolerance or resistance does build

up in infected populations over a number of years

and some oysters

will survive

despite the

continuing presence of the parasite. However, all

these oyster beds have now much lower densities

that before the parasite was present so production

has ceased or been significantly reduced.

As a result OYSTERECOVER will concentrate

on trying to determine how the parasite maintains

itself in a body of water even when oysters are

very low or negligible – for instance is it in the

sediment, the water itself or in other animals? The

project will look at how oysters that survive

infection are able to fight off the parasite or keep

the infection under control and the underlying

genetic aspect of this in oysters from different

populations throughout Europe will be

investigated.

An important aspect of the project is assessing

current levels of infection in various European

populations and the current conditions in a range

of bays and harbours where the oyster is present.

The aim is to determine if conditions are suitable

to increase production in these areas or if certain

aspects of the production cycle e.g. settlement of

spat need to be improved. In Ireland, for instance

oysters from Clew Bay, one of the first populations

where Bonamia was diagnosed in Ireland, and

Lough Foyle, the most recent population, are both

being assessed to investigate what current

infection levels are like and what factors might be

influencing development of disease. The other

objective in choosing these two populations in

Ireland is to determine if there are any differences

in the levels of resistance to the parasite in a

population that has been exposed to Bonamia for

over 30 years and another population only exposed

for 7 years. Overall OYSTERECOVER aims to

facilitate and improve conditions for flat oyster

production and enhance the status of this important

native species making it more commercially viable

to produce this oyster.

Dr Sarah Culloty will be talking about this

project at the ASSG conference as part of the

research update feature that is new for this year.

The Grower — 19

The Mediterranean Diet Revisited Getting to the heart of the fats and Omega 3 debate: what should go on your plate?

HRH The Princess Royal will attend a conference at

Fishmongers’ Hall, London Bridge which will discuss

the health benefits of eating seafood and the role of the

Mediterranean diet. The one-day event is being hosted

by the Fishmongers’ Company in association with

national charity Heart Research UK, with support from

Seafish. The Princess Royal will address the conference

which will bring together speakers including eminent

scientists and food experts from across the world.

The Fishmongers’ Company believes it is timely to

take a fresh look at what constitutes the Mediterranean

diet with a particular focus on seafood and other sources

of Omega-3, including the latest evidence on why it

contributes to good health and how it could be adopted

more widely and sustainably.

People often feel bombarded and confused with

information about diet and health, particularly as some

of it is conflicting. There is, however, wide public

awareness of the health benefits of a Mediterranean diet,

especially in terms of obesity and risk of coronary heart

disease.

Keynote speaker Dr Artemis Simopoulos (Center

for Genetics, Nutrition and Health, Washington

D.C.) will be talking about the Cretan diet and the

consumption of fish and shellfish and whether the

modern Mediterranean diet has moved away from this

model. ‘Interest in the Mediterranean diet stems from

the findings that coronary heart disease mortality in

southern Europe is lower than in northern Europe with

the population of Crete having the lowest coronary heart

disease mortality and the longest life expectancy.

‘Although in the past the beneficial effects of the diet

were considered to be due to the consumption of olive

oil, the most recent studies suggest the contribution of

omega-3 fatty acids to be even more important.

Other speakers will include:

Professor Tom Sanders (King’s College, London)

on the health benefits of eating seafood and why

fish consumption studies come to different

conclusions in relation to heart disease.

Kelley Fitzpatrick (Director of Health and

Nutrition for the Flax Council of Canada) on

whether plant sources of Omega 3 can replace

seafood sources.

Dr Alexandra Johnstone (Rowett Institute of

Nutrition and Health, University of

Aberdeen) on whether the Mediterranean diet

can help to satiate rather than stimulate appetite

and its importance in reducing the incidence of

obesity.

CJ Jackson (Food Writer and Director of the

Billingsgate Seafood Training School) will be

speaking about what it all means for the

consumer.

The full programme can be seen at

www.fishhall.org.uk

To book your place please visit

http://meddietrevisited.eventbrite.co.uk

The Grower — 20

Ocean Acidification and Carbon Footprints

Pictured above: Shell of Mytilus edulis showing the

effects of ocean acidification. Credit: Robert Ellis,

Exeter University.

As part of the forthcoming ASSG conference there will

be a workshop at SAMS the evening before the

conference opens when there will be the opportunity to

learn about current information and recent findings

about the problems of ocean acidification. This is also

your opportunity to give feedback on the concerns you

have from the shellfish industry viewpoint. Read more

about it and how to register on pages 14 and 15.

John Hamilton, oyster farmer on Loch Nell has sent The

Grower this photograph of his innovative oyster trestles

made of recycled materials. Even though the SARF

report on the Scottish shellfish farming industry is so

positive and also suggests that the main improvements

will be in electricity and fuel use, it could be

innovations such as this that help the industry build

further on its good name. See the report on the SARF

carbon footprint study carried out on the shellfish

industry on page 12

Pictured left : Sydney Harbour Bridge framing

Sydney Opera House providing a tempting picture

to accompany the news in this issue of the

forthcoming ICMSS meeting to be held there next

March. Read more about it on page 11.