|
Renewable energy and shellfish farming, using solar energy to grow oyster seed that will then sequester ocean CO2 – what’s not to like? Our first post about our new demonstration Solar Powered FLUPSY (Floating Upweller System). We’re very excited about this project and as performance data becomes available we will be reporting a lot more but for now a rather longish post and photo essay about the design and construction. Read the rest of this entry »
Social science and shellfish. Are shellfish social? Well, oysters, for example, are referred to as gregarious since their larvae preferentially select settlement locations – where they will live for the rest of their lives – near other oysters. But that isn’t exactly the kind of social up for study by a new project supported by the Institute for Coastal Research and the Centre for Shellfish Research. We’re pretty excited about the newest member of the team Dr. Linda D’Anna who is starting new research to characterize the social-ecological properties, processes, and interactions within the Baynes Sound ecosystem that promote social-ecological resilience. Read the rest of this entry »
A seriously good video about Ocean Acidification – well worth taking the 12 minutes to watch. If you deal with shellfish larvae in the Pacific Northwest this is a big issue and potential effects on the shellfish industry may just be a harbringer for all of us. Read the rest of this entry »
Did you know that the oyster grown in BC and most of the rest of the world is an import from Japan? Brought in after overfishing and pollution destroyed populations of our Native oyster? Or that 85 % of all the native oyster reefs in the world have vanished? Or that we have been working on the Native (Olympia) oyster since 2008 and now are starting a more active program? If not read on…. Read the rest of this entry »
This week CSR Research Scientist Dr. Helen Gurney-Smith and her team reported out on the My-Tome project to shellfish industry partners and staff from Genome BC our funding partner.
Helen’s team in conjunction with Dr. Stuart Johnson at Fisheries and Oceans Canada is developing a sensitive genomic tool for multiple marine mussels, known keystone species, enabling more accurate health assessments of coastal zones including aquaculture operations, thus facilitating the ability to monitor the effects of the changing environment. Read the rest of this entry »
Note: This updates a previous post.
We are pleased to report the results of our project to develop engineered prototypes for new shellfish aquaculture rafts. We hope that these rafts will lead to increasing the productivity and sustainability of the shellfish industry. Older raft designs in use are mostly constructed from wood and coated Styrofoam (like many older docks). These can degrade with age and in extreme weather conditions may be at risk up resulting in losses of crops and creation of marine debris. In 2006 unusually large storms resulted in large losses of rafts and we have been working with the shellfish industry since to develop new designs. With assistance of the Aquaculture Innovation and Market Access Program we engaged Dynamic Systems Analysis Ltd. in Victoria to help develop new designs through advanced engineering methods and virtual prototyping.
Download the Project Report with plans
Download the Executive Summary and Plans
What’s wrong with this picture taken in the Courtney Estuary?
Read on to find out. Read the rest of this entry »
We are seeing very promising results for developing the native basket cockle (Clinocardium nuttallii) as a new species for aquaculture in BC. For several years now research teams at the CSR have worked on developing hatchery and now grow-out techniques.
Cockles in off-bottom tray culture on the Deep Bay Field Station Farm site.
More project details follow. Read the rest of this entry »
Last week we began launching new prototype rafts for shellfish aquaculture which we hope will lead to increasing the productivity and sustainability of the shellfish industry. Older raft designs in use are mostly constructed from wood and coated Styrofoam (like many older docks). These can degrade with age and in extreme weather conditions may be at risk up resulting in losses of crops and creation of marine debris. In 2006 unusually large storms resulted in large losses of rafts and we have been working with the shellfish industry since to develop new designs. With assistance of the Aquaculture Innovation and Market Access Program we engaged Dynamic Systems Analysis Ltd. in Victoria to help develop new designs through advanced engineering methods and virtual prototyping.
The video below is a virtual simulation of three of our new prototypes in an extreme weather environment.
This technique has allowed us to “virtually” model and test a variety of construction materials and over 30 designs before settling on the current prototypes.
Follow the link below for a photoessay on the actual prototypes getting built. We are now going to test the variations of our prototypes at the Deep Bay Field Station research farm and then later release the plans to industry.
We are very proud of the Research Vessel “Chetlo” as it was built on campus by VIU’s aluminum boat building program in 2008 and launched in 2009. This summer it was used to build what will be our research and training farm.
Here is the video from the launch.
