Yield Of Mussels Research Articles

Effects of different culture methods on growth, meat yield, and nutritional composition of Mediterranean mussels (Mytilus galloprovincialis), south side of Marmara Sea, Türkiye

This study, conducted between February 2016 and October 2017 on the coast of Erdek in the Marmara Sea, established two longline systems (buoy and pipe). Monthly growth rates of juvenile mussels placed in polyethylene and polyamide nets within these systems were monitored. The monthly chemical composition and meat yield of mussels that reached harvest size were analyzed in both systems. Environmental parameters were measured monthly to assess environmental conditions. The highest meat yield of harvested mussels was recorded in January, with values of 36.99 ± 0.72% for mussels cultured in the pipe system and 31.43 ± 1.82% for those cultured in the buoy system. The highest growth in mussels was achieved in the group cultured in the pipe system within polyamide nets. The December sample showed the highest moisture content of 83.98% and the highest ash content of 2.34%. The highest crude fat content was found in the September sample. The June sample had the highest protein content. The Black Sea, Sea of Marmara, and Aegean Sea offer suitable areas for mussel cultivation. Currently, mussel farming is conducted in these areas, producing tens of thousands of tons annually. This publication contributes to the expansion of the production process.

A multi-responsive cross-linked supramolecular polymer network constructed by mussel yield coordination interaction and pillar[5]arene-based host-guest complexation.

Here a novel cross-linked supramolecular polymer network with thermal, pH, and H2S responsiveness was prepared inspired by mussel yield catechol-Fe3+ coordination and pillar[5]arene-based host-guest interactions.

The effect of four microbial products on production performance and water quality in integrated culture of freshwater pearl mussel and fishes

An 80-day mesocosm experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of four commercial microbial products on production performance and water quality in integrated culture of freshwater pearl mussel Hyriopsis cumingii, grass carp, gibel carp, silver carp and bighead carp. Five treatments were tested. One treatment with non-supplementation of microbial products served as control (C). In the other four treatments, Novozymes Pond Protect (NO), Bio-Form BZT-Water Reform (WR), Bacillus natto (BN) and Effective Microbes (EM) were added at the intervals of two weeks, respectively. Mussel yield declined in the tanks with supplementation of the microbial products. No significant differences were found in fish yield and chemical water quality among the treatments except total nitrogen (TN) was higher in tanks EM than in tanks C. Biomass of phytoplankton and Cyanophyta was higher in tanks NO, WR, BN and EM than in tanks C. Supplementation of the microbial products resulted in change in bacterial community in which Actinobacteria, Chlorobi, Verrucomicrobia and Proteobacteria dominated. Bacterial community in the tanks was significantly affected by TN, total phosphorus, chemical oxygen demand and Cyanophyta biomass. This study reveals that the function of these microbial products as probiotics is limited in H. cumingii farming.

Heavy metals in Mytilus galloprovincialis, suspended particulate matter and sediment from offshore submerged longline system, Black Sea

The study was performed between March 2009 and March 2010 at the Sinop Inner Harbor on cultured mussels at the offshore submerged longline system. The samples of mussels, sediment and suspended particulate matter were seasonally taken for the purpose of monitoring differences of metal contents. In addition, burnable organic matter, contamination factors (CF), pollution load index (PLI) in sediment samples, meat yield of mussels were seasonally determined. All metals in suspended particulate matter were found to be above the national limit. Cd concentration in sediment was above the limit according to sediment quality guidelines, and Cd concentration in mussel was above both national and international limit values. According to CF and PLI identified in sediment, it was found that Inner Harbor was under the effect of anthropogenic pollution in terms of Cd accumulation. Provisional tolerable weekly intake calculated in mussel did not exceed the tolerable consumption values. In conclusion, it can be said that this region considered for commercial mussel cultivation is not a suitable area.

Monitoring Recruitment Patterns of Mussels and Fouling Tunicates in Mariculture

ABSTRACT Methods to increase the precision of spat collection and strategies to mitigate fouling are greatly needed in aquaculture production. As such, larval recruitment of mussels and a common tunicate species was investigated. Recruitment was measured in shallow (1–2 m) and deeper (4–5 m) water at three sites during the summer of 2012. In addition, to evaluate the importance of timing in deployment of mussel ropes, differences in mussel yield were examined. The settlement plates provided a good description of the settling community with high temporal resolution. Peaks in recruitment were observed for both mussels and tunicates but recruitment rates and the timing of peaks differed among sites. Although mussel larvae preferred shaded substrates at some sites and times, these substrates were consistently preferred by tunicates. Mussels preferred to settle at shallow depths, whereas tunicates were consistently more abundant deeper. In contrast to predictions, there was no positive relationship between the...

Estimating the Potential Production of the Brown MusselPerna perna(Linnaeus, 1758) Reared in Three Tropical Bays by Different Methods of Condition Indices

Perna perna(Linnaeus, 1758) is the main marine bivalve mussel yielded commercially in Brazil. In spite of this, scientific data is very scarce regarding its productivity in tropical shallow waters. The Condition Index (CI) is used worldwide in mariculture to assess animal health, harvest time, and yield. In this study, the authors used CI results from nine different methods to assess the season effect on the mussel CI and also to evaluate the potential yield of three southern Brazilian bays. The results from nine CI methods were used for the comparison of the seasonality and yield of mussels reared in three marine bays. Sampling was carried out monthly within two 4-month periods, from December 2008 to August 2009. The results show a trend for seasonal effects on the CI results. The winter months showed the highest and the lowest values. Between bays, higher CI values were detected in animals reared at Sepetiba Bay, followed by Guanabara Bay and Ilha Grande Bay. We suggest that the CI (that considers the ratio between bivalve soft tissue wet weight and total length) should be used by fishermen, since this formula was able to detect differences between sites and is more easily applied.

Influence of climate on Pelorus Sound mussel aquaculture yields: predictive models and underlying mechanisms

Multiple regression models were used to predict aquaculture production in Pelorus Sound, a 50 km long estuary supporting 68% of New Zealand's greenshell mussel Perna canali - culus aquaculture industry (worth NZ$ 204 million per annum). Mussel meat yield was modelled using both biological predictors, including seston (indexed by particulate nitrogen, PN), phyto- plankton and nutrients collected over 9 yr (July 1997 to November 2005) by the mussel industry, and physical, climatic predictors, including Southern Oscillation Index (SOI), along-shelf winds, sea surface temperature (SST) and Pelorus River flow, held in New Zealand national databases. Yield was best predicted using biological predictors collected locally at the farms inside the sound, but it was also predictable using only physical predictors collected distant from the farming region. Seston (mussel food) was also predictable using the physical predictors. Optimal predictor sets for yield and seston differed between summer and winter half-years. In summer, deep water (which enters the sound through the estuarine circulation) at the sound entrance was nitrate (NO3 � )-rich during upwelling conditions (negative SOI, NNW wind stress and cool SST). The increased NO3 � levels, in turn, triggered increased PN within the sound. In the winter half-year, PN was unrelated to upwelling and NO3 � effects at the entrance and was instead related to river flow. Remotely-sensed SST data showed that in summer, upwelling affected the entrance waters of the sound under negative SOI and upwelling-favourable wind stress, patterns which dissipated in winter. Overall, these results show that time series of physical drivers can be useful for explain- ing production variation of farmed bivalves and indicate the prospects for using data routinely col- lected in national databases for predicting mussel yield.

PH-induced metal-ligand cross-links inspired by mussel yield self-healing polymer networks with near-covalent elastic moduli.

Growing evidence supports a critical role of metal-ligand coordination in many attributes of biological materials including adhesion, self-assembly, toughness, and hardness without mineralization [Rubin DJ, Miserez A, Waite JH (2010) Advances in Insect Physiology: Insect Integument and Color, eds Jérôme C, Stephen JS (Academic Press, London), pp 75-133]. Coordination between Fe and catechol ligands has recently been correlated to the hardness and high extensibility of the cuticle of mussel byssal threads and proposed to endow self-healing properties [Harrington MJ, Masic A, Holten-Andersen N, Waite JH, Fratzl P (2010) Science 328:216-220]. Inspired by the pH jump experienced by proteins during maturation of a mussel byssus secretion, we have developed a simple method to control catechol-Fe(3+) interpolymer cross-linking via pH. The resonance Raman signature of catechol-Fe(3+) cross-linked polymer gels at high pH was similar to that from native mussel thread cuticle and the gels displayed elastic moduli (G') that approach covalently cross-linked gels as well as self-healing properties.

ENSO and riverine control of nutrient loading, phytoplankton biomass and mussel aquaculture yield in Pelorus Sound, New Zealand

Multi-year time-series were used to describe oceanic and riverine nutrient supply and primary biomass in Pelorus Sound, a 50 km long estuary supporting most of New Zealand's $200 mil- lion per annum mussel Perna canaliculus aquaculture industry. In the summer half-year (October to March), when the Southern Oscillation Index (SOI) was negative (El Nino), NNW along-shelf wind stress strengthened and sea surface temperature (SST) at the Sound entrance cooled, indicating upwelling. This triggered increases in phytoplankton biomass, particulate nitrogen (PN) and per capita yield of farmed mussels in the Sound. In the winter half-year (April to September), wind stress was unrelated to SOI, but during NNW winds Pelorus River flows increased, along with NO3 - , phyto- plankton biomass, PN and mussel yield. During an extended period of positive SOI (La Nina), SSE winds and drought during 1999 to 2002, seston (PN) abundance and its food quality decreased, con- comitant with a mussel yield decrease of ~25% throughout Pelorus Sound. Seston and mussel yield had recovered by 2003 without reductions in farming intensity, so over-grazing by mussels did not cause the yield minimum. Instead, climatic forcing of oceanic and riverine N supply and seston bio- mass underlay the inter-annual variation in mussel yield. As tracers of the relationship of nutrient loading and production, PN and mussel yield appeared more reliable than NO3 - or chl a concentra- tions. In Pelorus Sound, oceanic and riverine N supplies are seasonally complementary and sustain year-round mussel yield, although their inter-annual variability, linked to wider climate forcing, can drive considerable fluctuation in yield over the decadal scale.

Experimental Manipulation of Suspended Culture Socks: Growth and Behavior of Juvenile Mussels (Mytilus spp.)

Suspended mussel culture entails loading high densities of juvenile mussels into mesh socks, and hanging them from floating longlines, often resulting in intraspecific crowding, reduced growth, and mussel yield. Despite this potential bottleneck in culture, there are few data on behavioral mechanisms that regulate juvenile density and growth rate. A field experiment was conducted with culture socks to examine the effects of stocking density (High ∼800 mussels/30.5 cm; Low ∼400 mussels/30.5 cm), blue mussel species (Mytilus edulis and M. trossulus) and environment on early development of the culture population. In situ photography and direct sampling were used to generate time series of mussel size, valve gape, siphon area, shell orientation, and emergence in experimental socks at a commercial farm in Ship Harbour, Nova Scotia, Canada. Moored CTD-current meters and water sampling were used to characterize the sites. Emergence from the culture socks required 1–2 mo, with faster initial emergence in M. trossulus. High densities generally did not affect mussel emergence rate or orientation, but higher current speeds produced a negative effect on M. edulis emergence rate. At the experimental densities used, emergence was complete and few mussels remained inside the culture sock. Nonetheless, interior mussels showed mechanical stress such as shell distortion and reduced growth compared with emerged individuals. Mussels exhibited largely horizontal orientation presumably in response to horizontal currents. Siphon area displayed a unimodal response with an optimum at the middle of the current speed range. No density-dependent effect on valve gape was detected, but a significant interaction between siphon area and stocking density suggests that optimal hydrodynamic response is sensitive to crowding. Growth of shell and tissue showed little negative density-dependence. Mussels are proposed to alleviate crowding via behavioral sorting. Although there is concern that growth studies of cultured mussels are often deficient because they use cages or other containers rather than socks, this study suggests that conditions of the sock environment such as crowding may be less important than macroenvironmental factors (e.g., current speed) in determining growth.

Association between longline design and mussel productivity in Prince Edward Island, Canada

The first objective of this study was to document the design of subsurface longlines used for the farming of blue mussels ( Mytilus edulis) in Prince Edward Island (PEI), Canada; the second objective was to identify possible associations between longline design and mussel growth. In 2003, SCUBA divers visited 54 farms distributed in 16 culture embayments; they measured the spacing between longlines and the spacing between individual socks (sleeves) attached to longlines; they also sampled one-year-old mussels for the determination of the shell length, condition index, and sock weight. Here we report a remarkable degree of variation in longline configuration, with the following range of values: 1.2 to 3.0 m for sock length, 1.5 to 29.5 m for longline spacing, 26.4 to 62.4 cm for sock spacing, and 6.2 to 179.9 socks/100 m 2 for stocking density at the farm scale. A negative correlation was found between stocking density at the farm scale and total farming area at the bay scale, suggesting that growers adjusted husbandry in relation to the surrounding level of farming activity. In one major culture bay, Tracadie Bay, measurements were repeated over a three-year period (2002–2004). This monitoring led to the discovery of a coordinated effort by growers in raising the average sock spacing by 30% (+ 11 cm). Multiple regression analyses identified sock spacing as the only explanatory variable correlated with mussel weight in Tracadie Bay. The model suggests that an 11-cm increase in sock spacing can lead to an 18% weight gain for pre-market mussels (∼ 34 mm), the size group investigated in the study. However, this correlation between sock spacing and sock weight was tenuous over the three-year study period, showing up only in 2002. A similar correlation was found between sock spacing and condition index, although only in 2004. We conclude by suggesting that close spacing of mussel socks can negatively affect mussel yield, although only under certain conditions.

How to toughen up your mussels: using mussel shell morphological plasticity to reduce predation losses

Improvements in stocking strategy and management could increase the yield of mussels that are on-grown from harvested wild seed mussel resources and thereby enhance the sustainability of this shellfishery. A field experiment was undertaken to ascertain shell characteristics (compression strength and thickness) of seed mussels grown at different shore heights, whether these characteristics changed after a period of growth under identical conditions, and if these characteristics reduced predation losses by crabs and birds. Results indicated that mussels grown at higher shore levels attained shell characteristics beneficial to predation resistance and that these were maintained after a period of growth at a lower shore level. A novel management plan for mussel cultivation was formulated from the results of this study by manipulating shore position according to the attainment of these predator resistant shell attributes and the spatial distribution of the main natural mussel predators (crabs and birds). This technique was expanded to address the mussel cultivation problem of low natural seed settlement.

Heavy metals in blue mussels (Mytilus edulis) in the Bergen Harbor area, Western Norway.

Heavy metal discharges to the marine environment are of great concern all over the world. Both essential (e.g., Fe, Zn, Cu) and non essential (e.g., Hg, Cd, Pb) metals are toxic to living organism when subjected to high concentration. Many heavy metals accumulate in organisms and some also accumulate in the food chain. The anthropogenic heavy metal outlets can in this way both reduce marine species diversity and ecosystem. Further, by consuming seafood, humans will be exposed to the metals with a potential danger to human health. Goldberg proposed to use marine mussels to monitor contamination levels of coastal waters. Since then marine mussels, especially the blue mussel (Mytilus edulis), has been used widely as a surveillance organism. The blue mussel is regarded a suitable species for this purpose because it accumulates metals, it sessile, has a relatively long life span, is large enough for individual analysis, can tolerate a relatively wide range of temperature and salinity regimes, and can also synthesize the metal-binding protein, metallothionein, for metal detoxification. Furthermore, the blue mussel is a popular and tasteful food source and is suitable for culturing. The world-wide annual yield of mussels during the period 1988 to 1992 was about 1.3more » million tons, of which about 0.5 million tons was Mytilus edulis. In Norway, the annual production was 77 tons in 1990. The interest of culturing mussels has increased in recent years, but the consumption of mussels has been hampered both by toxic algae and high levels of heavy metals. The latter is of special concern to those close to urban or industrial areas. This study investigated whether blue mussels in the Bergen Harbor area were contaminated with the heavy metals zinc, copper, lead, cadmium, and mercury, evaluating whether humans could eat them. 21 refs., 6 figs.« less

Impact of fouling organisms on mussel rope culture: interspecific competition for food among suspension-feeding invertebrates

The clearance rate of natural planktonic assemblages was measured for the blue mussel Mytilus edulis (L.) and a co-occurring fouling community from mussel rope cultures using flow cytometry. Blue mussels had significantly higher clearance rates for all particle types and size classes. In addition, blue mussels showed selective feeding in favor of small phytoplankton (3–5 μm), whereas the solitary ascidian Ciona intestinalis (L.) and the suspension-feeding gastropod Crepidula fornicata (L.) showed preferential selection for large phytoplankton (> 16 μm). Clearance rates for large phytoplankton by these members of the fouling community were, however, always lower than blue mussels. Under conditions where food is not a limiting factor, interspecific competition for food by the associated fouling community should not significantly limit the yield of mussels.

Growth, survival and yield of Mytilus galloprovincialis Lamk. on fixed suspended culture in a bay of the Po River Delta

Mussels ( Mytilus galloprovincialis) were raised at two sites in a brackish embayment of the Po River Delta (Sacca di Scardovari) according to a modified fixed suspended culture system. Growth, survival and yield of mussels were monitored directly on experimental ropes, and hydrographic data were collected to assess the effects of two different environmental conditions and three different frequencies of the thinning operation, which is the main labour cost involved in this kind of mussel cultivation. Statistical analyses at different dates during the growth year have shown the following: shell length growth is not affected by the two experimental conditions tested; dry weight growth is influenced positively by the food availability and negatively by the amount of suspended inorganic detritus; no growth advantages are obtained by increasing thinning frequency; survival, on the contrary, is strongly affected by increased thinning as a direct consequence of higher mussel losses from the ropes when they are more frequently disturbed. The increased weight growth does not compensate for these losses, in terms of the overall biomass yield.