RESUMEN.En Chile los cultivos del ostión del norte Argopecten purpuratus han sido desarrollados intensivamente a partir de la captación de semillas en ambiente natural y desde principios de 1980 con semillas obtenidas en hatchery. Para aportar información sobre el desempeño de semillas de ostión del norte en este estudio se comparó, mediante ANCOVA, el crecimiento en longitud entre cohortes producidas a partir de semillas de ambiente natural y de hatchery en Tongoy, Chile. Se evaluó la consistencia de esta comparación en distintos años y estaciones, comparándose parejas de cohortes producidas simultáneamente en los años 2003 (primavera) Comparison of growth among cohorts obtained Argopecten purpuratus larval recruitment in natural and hatcheryABSTRACT. In Chile crops of the northern scallop Argopecten purpuratus have been developed intensively from seeds obtained in natural environment, and since 1980 from hatchery's seed, when this technique could be controlled and developed. In order to provide information on the performance of seeds of northern scallops in this study growth in length between cohorts produced from seeds obtained in natural environment (CN) and hatchery (CH) in Tongoy (Chile) was compared using ANCOVA. We assessed the consistency of this comparison in different years and seasons. 2006 . These differences indicate that the cohorts of natural environment seeds grew faster than those of hatchery. Inter annual comparison showed significant statistical differences. These results are discussed in terms of the cultivation temperature and the heterozygosity for the growing population.

No abstract

The variability in growth is a common characteristic in mollusks breeding. Effects rising from the variability in the individual growth rate and the consequent dispersion of sizes in cultivation are important in financial terms. To manage this heterogeneity many firms use size selection, which can happen in two stages: toward the end of the stage of growing, or in the phase of growing of seeds. A bioeconomic model simulating the operation of a firm producing red abalone was implemented in spreadsheets. The firm produces 70 tons yearly. The model was structured in three sub-models. A biological sub-model detailed a batch's dynamics, in terms of survival and growth, considering individual variation of size around a central value for each age. A technological sub-model described raw materials, the quantity of food and the energy required. Finally, the simulation model is completed with an economic integrated sub-model, where net present value is calculated considering income and costs over the time. Results of the alternative production strategies (with or without selection) are assessed according to: quantity of larvae and necessary spawners to reach the desired level of production; net present value (NPV) and necessary time to recover the investment. The number of larvae was approximately 17 millions larger for the case of the strategy of production with sizes selection and 73% more of available spawners is required for this larger amount of larvae. In the short term, the size-selection strategy increases the production costs at the initial time, compared with the strategy without selection. However, in the long term, this strategy generates greater NPV. The span for investment recovery was shorter for the case of the strategy with size selection and living product (nearly 2,140 days) than frozen (nearly 2,232 days); while without sizes selection a 15-year simulation showed the investment is not recovered. Finally, could be verified that size selection can be an interesting strategy to explore, since it improves the financial result, the same way other more expensive technological changes would.