The World Aquaculture Society conference, AQUA 2018, is an international meeting of researchers and practitioners focused on aquaculture. California Sea Grant extension specialists Carrie Culver and Paul Olin will present recent work at the conference.
Sunday, August 26
16:50
Rock scallop culture: to cement or not to cement
Carrie Culver, Jonathan Davis, Andrew Kim, Art Seavey, Brent Vadopalas
Wednesday, August 29
16:40
The Ventura Shellfish Enterprise: Opportunities for mussel farming in Southern California
Paul Olin, Everard Ashworth
Abstract: The Ventura Harbor in southern California is a very active diverse port where the fishery for market squid (Doryteuthis opalescens) is the largest commercial fishery. The Port Commissioners, seeking to increase and diversify commercial landings began exploring the feasibility of long-line mussel farms in the area. One impediment to creating a mussel farming sector in the area is the high cost of permitting, making it out of reach for most entrepreneurs.
To overcome this hurdle, the commissioners and a diverse group of interested parties created the Ventura Shellfish Enterprise (VSE) to pre-permit mussel farming leases off the coast of Ventura and then sublease them to individuals interested in mussel farming, who thereby avoid the complex and expensive permitting process.
The VSE is a multi-party initiative to permit twenty 100-acre plots for growing the Mediterranean mussel (Mytilus galloprovincialis) via submerged long lines in coastal waters within the Santa Barbara Channel near Ventura Harbor. VSE partners include Ventura Port District, Coastal Marine Biolabs, The Cultured Abalone Farm, and Ashworth Leininger Group, in coordination with aquaculture scientists and experts including the California and NOAA aquaculture coordinators, and California Sea Grant. Supported by a grant to the Ventura Port District from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) through the National Sea Grant College Program, the Ventura Port District will obtain all the permits and entitlements needed to cultivate mussels on leases that will be farmed by commercial fisherman and other entrepreneurs with mussels landed at existing off-loading facilities in the Ventura Harbor. Coastal Marine Biolabs, a nonprofit research-based science education organization with facilities in the Ventura Harbor organized a comprehensive public outreach campaign and a series of workshops to inform commercial fishermen, consumers, Ventura residents and the public at large of the project's features, benefits and impacts. The VSE represents an opportunity for interested parties to develop mussel farming operations next to one of the largest seafood markets in the world.