Objective
* To determine the effects of nutrition, microbial flora, genetic background and water quality on the survival and quality of larval and juvenile stages of scallops derived from hatchery cultivation and natural recruitment.
* To characterize and identify bacteria that play a role in seed production, either beneficial (improving growth, survival and/or settlement success) or detrimental (pathogens).
* To determine the critical nutrients (mainly vitamins and lipid compounds) in hatchery rearing of scallops (broodstock, larval and postlarval stages).
* To assess the genetic diversity in wild and cultivated stocks using both traditional (allozymes) and innovative (microsatellites and mitochondrial DNA) genetic markers.
* To improve microbial control (use of probionts), nutrition (through live algae as well as through the use of artificial supplements), and genetic aspects (through broodstock management strategies, triploidy induction) in scallop rearing .
* To evaluate adapted zootechniques on a experimental scale in rural hatcheries and their effect on growout success in the field.
Expected Outcome
* Supporting an activity which has a great potential as a sustainable source of income for rural communities that have recently switched from artisanal fishermen to mollusc growers.
* Improving the predictability and sustainability of scallop seed production.
* Better understanding of the various nutritional, microbiological and genetic factors determining the success of scallop larviculture. In particular the genetic work will provide baseline data for genetic improvements of scallops stocks and the conservation of genetic resources.
* Collaboration between European and Latin-American partners provides an opportunity for a high degree of training in methodology and strengthen the research capability both of the young researchers involved and their host institutions.
* The multidisciplinary study of scallop culture in two very different scallop will improve the expertise of the European partners.
Nutrition : Development/preparation of specific supplement diets to supply essential/limiting nutrients to scallop broodstock and larvae, development of feeding regimes for artificial diet supplementation to live algae, verification of the use of supplementation diets for local species in Latin-America, nutritional status and potential of seed collected in nature versus hatchery-produced seed.
Microbiology : Characterization of microflora, confirmation of pathogenicity (challenge test), confirmation of beneficial/detrimental bacterial strains, evaluation of the potential use of selected bacterial strains under the conditions of rural hatcheries, microbiological analysis of the environment, microbiological safety.
Genetics : Assessment of genetic resources in wild and cultivated scallops using allozyme techniques and novel biotechnological markers, optimization of the genetic component of broodstock management strategies, microsatellite loci and mitochondrial DNA techniques, triploidy induction development and evaluation.
Fields of science
Topic(s)
Call for proposal
Data not availableFunding Scheme
CSC - Cost-sharing contractsCoordinator
9000 GENT
Belgium