Shellfish Breeding and Hatchery Management (2+1)

11.4.2 Spat collection from natural spawning ground

During the spawning season, when there is an onset of spat fall, spats can be collected by providing spat collecting materials in the ground. In Thailand and The Phillipines, bamboo poles / wooden sticks are used by the farmers. The spat attches to those objects easily.

Another popular type of spat collectors are ropes made of either coir or synthetic material such as polypropylene or polyethylene. Ropes made of natural fibre like coir is very successfully used for collecting the mussel spat because of their hairy and crevised nature offering much advantages in attachment. There is poorer settlement of spat on smooth ropes. But the disadvantage with coir rope is that it has lesser longivity in water whereas synthetic fibre can be used for several years. Several modifications of the rope system have been deviced for better efficiency of spat collection.