Coastal Aquaculture and Mariculture (2+1)

Unit 7 - Culture of Molluscs and Seaweeds

7.2.2. Seed collection

Seeds are collected from the natural mussel beds. They are cleaned in seawater to remove mud and epifauna. The size of the seed ranges from 20-30mm. The seed are secured to nylon/coir ropes by enclosing them in a knitted cotton cloth of 25cm with and stitching it around the rope. 500 to 700 juveniles are attached to each meter of the rope. The diameter of the coir rope used is 20-25mm, while that of the nylon rope is 14mm. The lengths of the ropes are 5-8mm. The seeded ropes are attached 0.5 to 1m apart to the rafts suspended in the sea. Seed mussels get attached to the ropes by byssus threads in 2-3 days and the cloth cover disintegrates in about 10 days.