The recruitment of scallops (and beyond) by two different artificial collectors (Gulf of Taranto, Mediterranean Sea)

Abstract

This study provides for the first time an evaluation\ud of the natural availability of scallop seeds along\ud the coastal area of Taranto (Mediterranean Sea,\ud Southern Italy). To select the best artificial collectors\ud to harvest scallop seeds in this area, cylindrical\ud collectors (Cyl) were compared to traditional\ud ‘Japanese-style onion bags’ (Bag) across three sites.\ud Scallops represented 26.6% of total bivalve recruitment\ud among all collectors (782 ± 331 ind. m-2, \ud The most recruited scallops were Flexopecten glaber\ud and Mimachlamys varia. The white (F. glaber) and\ud black scallops (M. varia) were abundant at all\ud three sites, while the queen scallop, Aequipecten\ud opercularis, was only found at one site. Beyond the\ud recruitment of scallops, numerous other potential\ud commercial bivalve species were collected, including\ud Limaria tuberculata, which was the most abundant\ud bivalve species (33.3% of total recruitment).\ud At all sites, Bag collectors had higher recruitment\ud than Cyl collectors. Scallops recruited in artificial\ud collectors exhibited a multicohort size distribution\ud at most sites, suggesting potentially continuous\ud reproductive activity in the scallop populations.\ud F. glaber, M. varia and L. tuberculata could be good\ud candidates to diversify the aquaculture production\ud because of the availability of seed and their growth\ud rate. Moreover, the farming of these bivalves integrates\ud well with other forms of aquaculture (e.g.\ud mussels), thus potentially offering farmers an additional\ud source of income

Strategies for Successful Scallops Spat Collection on Artificial Collectors in the Taranto Gulf (Mediterranean Sea)

“…A previous study determined the natural availability of scallops spat in the Mar Grande of Taranto (Ionian Sea, Mediterranean Sea), identifying the best collection site and confirming the efficiency of traditional collectors [28].…”

“…They are a high-value seafood [28,37], for which the market demand is so strong that existing supplies are inadequate. [38].…”

“…The study was carried out in the Mar Grande of Taranto (40 • 26 73" N, 17 • 13 50" E) chosen according to information obtained from our previous work [28].…”

Seasonal changes of commercial traits, proximate and fatty acid compositions of the scallopFlexopecten glaberfrom the Mediterranean Sea (Southern Italy)

“…and the high market value of F. glaber , comparable to that of the depleted wild Pilgrim’ scallop ( Pecten jacobeus ), make this species of great interest for the development of scallop culture (Marčeta et al, 2016). Prato et al (2015), demonstrated that wild F. glaber spat in the Ionian waters is easy to collect on artificial substrates, where scallop juveniles have shown to be the most frequent and abundant of all settled bivalves. In addition, Tsiotisios et al (2016) reported a high settlement density of F. glaber from the beginning of May to the end of August in the northwestern Amvrakikos Gulf (Ionian Sea, Greece).…”

A Way to Decrease the Negative Impact of Aquaculture on other Marine Inhabitants

“…The labor intensiveness of this technology makes it unprofitable both in Russia [4] and in Europe [5]. The studies aimed at optimizing the cultivation process [6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13] and reducing the number of scallop reseeding operations [14] have been conducted for a long time.…”