Volume 18 Issue 4 JULY/AUGUST 2017
HALIBUT
SHELLFISH
Larval bottlenecks still stymie halibut production
Project looks to add value and certainty to local mussel industry
BY TOM WALKER
ide market acceptance, high market value and their large size make Atlantic Halibut (Hippoglossus hippoglossus L.) an attractive species for aquaculture. However, high mortalities in early life stages have been a challenge for commercial producers. A team of researchers from the Institute of Marine Research (IMR), National Institute for Seafood and Nutrition and Sterling White Halibut, have been working in the DIVERSIFY Project to overcome early rearing bottlenecks. Birgitta Norberg of IMR in Norway shared results of their recent work with Hatchery International.
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BY MATT JONES
There remains a healthy, though strictly managed Norwegian fishery of 2 to 3000 tonnes yearly, yet Icelandic stocks are so low all halibut fisheries were banned in 2012 in hopes that they will recover. Norwegian aquaculture production of Atlantic halibut has been around 1300 to 1400 tonnes over the last three years Norberg says. She relates that the Norwegian producer Sterling White Halibut has calculated their market Dr Sonal Patel with halibut. Dr Patel is a specialist in fish potential world wide to be around 60,000 tonnes.
virology, and has extensive expertise in VNN infections in halibut, and vaccine development. She is responsible for the activities relating to fish health within the Diversify project.
PROFILE
Making old new again A vintage Chilean hatchery expands capacity with RAS and Reuse technologies BY CHRISTIAN PÉREZ MALLEA
‘Río Pescado’ (River Fish, in Spanish) is one of the oldest hatcheries in Chile and the first to operate in the region of Los Lagos, in the heart of the local salmon industry. This facility has been owned by Cermaq Chile since 2003 and it includes a mixture of new technologies, a marvelous landscape, and some very old stories. When this hatchery began operations 42 years ago it was intended to produce smoked, pan-size trout, however within this century it has been converted to the production of Atlantic salmon smolts. Located 40km northwest of Puerto Montt, ‘Río Pescado’ is at the mouth of the river of
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research effort in New Zealand has made a breakthrough in the early rearing of greenshell mussels (Perna canaliculus). New Zealand’s mussel farming industry is worth $350 million to the nation’s economy, but utilizes largely wild-caught spat. Rodney Roberts, programme manager for Shellfish Production and Technology New Zealand Ltd (SPATNZ), says the research at their hatchery in Nelson should make the process much easier for farmers and place less stress on local stocks.
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MODEST CAPTURE FISHERY
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New Zealand scientists make greenshell breakthrough
SPATNZ’s Ashley Millar adds fertilized eggs to an incubation tank. The project is intended to support New Zealand’s greenshell mussel farming industry.
“The New Zealand mussel industry still relies on wild spat as a source for juveniles,” says Roberts. “There are times when they don’t turn up when they want them to, or they don’t get enough of them if they do turn up. The reason for our project is to take control of their production and implement selective breeding for the industry.” Roberts says that early life stages and larval rearing have always been a challenge with the greenshell species. Research into how best to rear
continued on page 9 Publications Mail Agreement #40027115 Registration #9920 RETURN UNDELIVERABLE CANADIAN ADDRESSES TO 4623 William Head Rd. Victoria BC V9C 3Y7 email: peter@capamara.com
RAS 1, room intended for first-feeding.