Hatchery produced Pacific oyster seed : economic feasibility on cultch in the Pacific Northwest

• Main Authors: Im, Kwang H., Langmo, R. Donald
• Other Authors: Oregon State University. Agricultural Experiment Station, Oregon State University. Sea Grant College Program
• Format: Report
• Language: English; unknown
• Published: Corvallis : Oregon State University, Sea Grant College Program
• Subjects: Pacific oyster; Oyster culture > Economic aspects > Northwest; Pacific
• Online Access: https://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/concern/administrative_report_or_publications/n583xv89g

Oysters (all species combined). in terms of ex-vessel value, currently rank seventh largest among all seafood species landed in the United States, following shrimp, salmon, tuna, crab, lobster, and menhaden. The supply of domestic hatchery seed for oyster propagation is not suf­ficient to meet the potential demand at current market prices. Oyster grow­ers can not depend entirely on imported seed as a supplement to the natural seed, mainly because of high cost and uncertainty of seed supply. In the past, most of the Pacific oyster (a. gigas) seed has been imported from Japan at high cost and, often, with an extremely low survival rate. The purpose of this study is to investigate the economic feasibility of producing hatchery seed in the Pacific Northwest, accommodating economic, tech­nical, and biological factors that affect the cost of oyster seed production. In addition, costs are developed for five different levels of output that are within current practical commercial capacities. Also, for each level of pro­duction, costs are established for five methods of cultch preparation. These cost projections may serve as a guide for the analysis of costs of present or proposed oyster seed hatchery operations in the Pacific Northwest. Published January 1977. Facts and recommendations in this publication may no longer be valid. Please look for up-to-date information in the OSU Extension Catalog: http://extension.oregonstate.edu/catalog