Moving aquaculture off the grid the idea behind oyster farming

The idea behind oyster farming just like any type of farming is that when you have some control over elements like temperature, water and nourishment, you can speed up the rate at which the animal grows. Chris Starbird, a marine biologist who used to study sea turtles and island foxes, started Starbird Mariculture in 2007.

Starbird purchases seeds for Pacific oysters (Crassostrea gigas) from Washington State. At that point, they’re about two to three millimetres in diameter. During five month he will mature them to about 18 millimetres and then they are sold to the growers. I was surprised to learn that his operation is indeed a farm, in every sense. There’s the vocabulary (silo, trough), the list of unknowns that can make or break a season (weather, disease) and the unremitting list of strenuous and often precariously positioned tasks. Read more ...

This blog is written by Martin Little, The Aquaculturists, published and supported by the International Aquafeed Magazine from Perendale Publishers