Feasibility of Offshore Co‐culture of Abalone, Haliotis discus hannai Ino, and Sea Cucumber, Apostichopus japonicus, in a Temperate Zone

Abstract

Feasibility of offshore co-culture of abalone and sea cucumber was investigated in Northern China. Survival and growth of abalone, Haliotis discus hannai Ino, and sea cucumber, Apostichopus japonicus, co-cultured in abalone cages from suspended longlines, in the offshore area, were examined. Abalone and sea cucumbers were co-cultured at density ratios of both 3:1 and 6:1 for 1 yr. Abalone were fed with fresh kelp and no additional feed was given to sea cucumbers. Survival of abalone and sea cucumber was 100% for all treatments. Abalone and sea cucumber grew well; the body weight (BW) of abalone and sea cucumber was nearly doubled and had reached a commercial size. There were no significant differences in the growth rates for both abalone and sea cucumber between the two density treatments. The specific growth rate of BW of abalone (SGRbw) was highest in June, with a value of 0.536%/d. Growth rate of sea cucumber (SGRsc) was highest in December, reached 1.84%/d, with an annual average SGRsc of 0.182%/d. Results suggested that the offshore co-culture of abalone and sea cucumber was feasible offshore. The co-culture of abalone with sea cucumbers may provide an additional valuable crop without additional financial input.Abalone, Haliotis discus hannai Ino, is highly valued seafood throughout the world. Extensive culture of abalone has developed 1 Corresponding authors. rapidly and widely in coastal waters throughout China in the last two decades. The majority of H. discus hannai is cultured in suspended cages on suspended longlines in the nearshore shallow water, with water depth around 7-8 m.

Role of deposit‐feeding sea cucumbers in integrated multitrophic aquaculture: progress, problems, potential and future challenges

“…; Qi et al . ). Commercial scale, sea cucumber IMTA with abalone occurs in offshore systems in Shandong and Liaoning provinces.…”

“…The integration of high-value abalone, H. discus hannai; kelp, L. japonica; and sea cucumbers, A. japonicus in suspended culture is currently gaining greater commercial popularity in China ( Fig. 2a), possibly due to higher income offsetting higher labour costs (Lin 2005;Fang et al 2009;Liu et al 2009;Dong et al 2013;Qi et al 2013). Commercial scale, sea cucumber IMTA with abalone occurs in offshore systems in Shandong and Liaoning provinces.…”

Apostichopus japonicus: A Key Species in Integrated Polyculture Systems

“…The average body weight of cocultured sea cucumbers increased by 96% during the seven-month field trial, with an average specific growth rate of 0.33% d −1 . Furthermore, feasibility of offshore coculture of the abalone H. discus and the sea cucumber A. japonicus in abalone cages suspended on long lines was investigated in Sanggou Bay, northern China (Qi et al, 2013). All the cocultured animals survived and the annual average specific growth rates for sea cucumbers and abalones were 0.18 and 0.16% d −1 , respectively.…”

“…There have been many experimental studies and commercial trials focused on the use of sea cucumbers in integrated multitrophic aquaculture (IMTA) in Asia, mainly in China, Japan, and Republic of Korea. Their aim was generally to test the feasibility of coculturing A. japonicus with a variety of other species, including fish (Yu et al, 2012;Yokoyama, 2013a), shrimp (Xu and Zhu, 2002), macroalgae and/or bivalves (Zhang et al, 1990;Yang et al, 2000Yang et al, , 2001Zhou et al, 2006;Yuan et al, 2008;Yokoyama, 2013b), abalone (Zhang et al, 1993;Chang and Hu, 2000;Kang et al, 2003;Wang et al, 2007b;Fang et al, 2009;Qi et al, 2013), and sea urchin (Wang et al, 2007a. Another objective is to evaluate the bioremediation potential of A. japonicus on organic wastes produced by other aquaculture species.…”

Effects of environmental and farm stress on abalone physiology: perspectives for abalone aquaculture in the face of global climate change

“…At high stocking densities, growth of individuals is often below the optimum rate, but maximal biomass gain counterbalances the loss and ultimately yields the most profit (Mgaya & Mercer 1995;Wassnig et al 2009Wassnig et al , 2010. However, there is ongoing research on profitability with regard to stocking density and growth of abalone in various culture systems (Badillo et al 2007;Park et al 2008;Wu et al 2009;Minh et al 2010;Encena et al 2013;Qi et al 2013;Wu & Zhang 2013). Douros (1987) supplied the first evidence that abalone will stack on each other if the number of individuals in a given area is too high (Douros 1987).…”