The Grower — 1

The Grower Newsletter for the Association of Scottish Shellfish Growers

March 2008

Readers’ letters 3

More News 4

Chairman’s

Column

5

Pacific Oysters

protocol

6

Tourism; friend

or foe?

7

Comment 8

Long line mussels

in Denmark

10

INSIDE THIS 12

PAGE ISSUE

Plans to replace the mouse bioassay with HPLC from 5th May have been announced and are reported on Page 4. Feedback is also sought on the changes proposed. Plus we hear once again from our NZ co r responden t on tourism and aquaculture issues there which have resonances for us here. We also introduce a Comment page which invites response.

The Grower is a quarterly newsletter edited by Janet H. Brown, Institute of Aquaculture, University of Stirling, FK9 4LA Tel 01786 467894 E mail : j.h.brown@stir.ac.uk For membership of ASSG contact Doug McLeod, Mountview, Ardvasar, Isle of Skye, IV45 8RU email : DouglasMcLeod@aol.com Disclaimer: Views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the official view of the Association

Special points of interest

ASSG AGM Pictured left—

Macdonald Aviemore

Highland Resort —see

you there for the ASSG

AGM on May 22nd ?

Natives in the woods? If you ever doubted the scale of

the native oyster fishery that

once existed on the Forth, just

take a walk in the woods around

the area. Paul Shave writes to

tell us of sites he has visited

recently where old middens give

information on the vast scale of

what once existed. He argues

that restoration is possible; see page 3

Pictured right oyster shells in Nether

Kinneil. Photo Paul Shave

Jim Mather, Minister for Enterprise and MSP for Argyll and Bute and Environment

Minister Mike Russell, MSP for South of Scotland were in Argyll in January to

hear concerns of shellfish farmers. The two Government Ministers made it very

clear that they wanted to know what the

constraints and opportunities for

aquaculture were, and emphasised that the

SNP administration intends to encourage

sustainable and profitable aquaculture, and

eliminate unnecessary barriers. Read the

full report of the meeting from Roger

Thwaites of Shian Fisheries on Page 9

Scottish Government meet with

Aquaculture Industry in Inverary

The Grower — 2

NEWS

ASSG Chairman Doug McLeod married Dr

Catherine Seamer on the quay side in Sydney

on December 22nd 2007. Catherine was

Senior Adviser to the New Zealand Food

Safety Authority for viruses and natural

toxins—so their loss is the ASSG’s gain as she

will be acting as adviser responsible for

biotoxins and virus issues for the ASSG. Her

mark may have been noticed already in the

ASSG response to EFSA on Okadaic acid. See

Chairman’s comments on Page 5

Above, Alan Brown, Michelin starred

NZ celebrity chef, cooking mussels and

right, the Aquaculture sea food trails of

South Island New Zealand. Read more

about the relationship between tourism

and the shellfish industry on Page 7

Pakistan Shellfish Link The week after the delayed General Election in Pakistan

saw another notable event taking place there. The

inaugural visit of the University of Stirling side of the

link between Stirling and the Centre of Excellence in

Marine Biology (University of Karachi) to Karachi.

Pictured below are Dr Ghazala Siddiqui and Dr Zarrien

Ayub who sharp eyed readers may recognise from the

Oban conference in October, and Dr Janet Brown who

had just given a public lecture to mark the occasion.

While the political situation meant that the planned visit

to Baluchistan to visit their hatchery development the

project was able to continue its progress towards

developing shellfish aquaculture.

Wedding in Oz

More from NZ

The Grower — 3

Readers’ Letters

Your chance to air your views especially of things you read here!

Whether or not this site is a midden, it adds substantially to

the picture of former abundance of O. edulis in the upper

Forth.

Shell lime production and lime mortar The extent of the surviving shell middens is all the more

remarkable given the utility of shells for calcining to make

lime mortar. Large quantities were extracted for the purpose.

To the west of the series, the original Callendar House,

Falkirk, a tower house with walls eight feet thick, was built

with lime mortar. At the east end so were Kinneil House and

the 12th century Kinneil church (ruin). On examining both of

these one can see shell fragments in the original mortar, not

the sole surviving gable end of Kinneil church as this has been

re-pointed with Portland cement!

The future A start should be made at restoring the species with trial

relaying, for economic and biodiversity reasons. It is said that

people plant trees for those who come after them, so why not

do so with oysters? It would repair damage to aquatic

biodiversity and get the native oyster working for the Scottish

economy. To these arguments are now added the biosecurity

value of geographical dispersion of native oyster stocks as

those in England and Wales are hit by the blood parasite

Bonamia ostreae and the price of flat oysters is nudging £3

each.

It will take time to re-establish oyster beds but the sooner a

start is made the sooner the benefits can be enjoyed. The

Edinburgh advocate Archibald Young, Inspector of Salmon

Fisheries for Scotland, was calling for restoration and

protection of oyster beds more than a hundred years ago

(Young 1898). We should heed his advice. The

longshoremen of prehistory have amply demonstrated what a

perfectly sustainable resource we could be enjoying. References Mackie, E.W., 1972, ‘Radiocarbon dates for two Mesolithic Shell Heaps and a Neolithic Axe

Factory in Scotland’, Proc Hist Soc 38, 412-16.

MacLennan, W.J., 2003, ‘Stature in Scotland over the centuries’, J R Coll Physicians Edinb

33, 46-53.

Myers, A.M. & Gourlay, R.B., 1991, ‘Muirtown, Inverness: preliminary investigation of a

shell midden’, Proc of the Soc Antiq Scot 121, 17-26.

Sloan, D., 1982, ‘Nether Kinneil’ Current Archaeology, 84, 13-15

Sloan, D., 1984, ‘Shell Middens and Chronology in Scotland’, Scottish Archaeological

Review 3.2 (1984) 73-9.

Sloan, D., 1997, ‘Greed and Stupidity: The End of the Forth Oyster Beds’, Calatria, Winter

1997, Number 11, 89-94.

Stevenson, R.B.K., 1946,

‘A Shell Heap at

Polmonthill, Falkirk’, Proc

Soc Antiq Scot 80 135-

139.

Surge D. & Milner N.,

2003, ‘Oyster Shells as

History Books’ Cefas

Shellfish News, Number

16, November 2003.

Thanks are

due to Geoff

Bailey, Falkirk

Council, Keeper

of Archaeology

and Local History

for pointing out

the reference to

Sloan 1997, later

historical

perspective with

very helpful

references.

From Paul Shave 24th March 2008

Forth Valley Oyster Shell Middens The scale of the Mesolithic and Neolithic shell middens in

Falkirk District is testimony to the former enormous

abundance of the native oyster. Shell middens occur world

wide and those in Forth valley are probably as big as any in

Europe. Sloan reviewed some of the others in Scotland,

various small sites in the south west, Morton Tayport,

Muirtown Inverness, Nethermills Farm Crathes and sites on

the isles of Oronsay and Jura (Sloan 1984).

Four sites have been identified in the Falkirk area, on a 6.5

km east – west line of raised beach. This is 12 m higher than

in prehistoric times and so is now well inland. All are

extensive mounds of oyster shell with some minimal

representation of other edible species and traces of

occupation. Nether Kinneil NS 957 799 (Scheduled ancient

monument) Nether Kinneil is the only site that has been subjected to

archaeological excavation (Sloan 1982) and was the first one I

looked at. It had been discovered by geological survey in

1874 and forgotten, to be re-discovered during oil pipeline

laying in the late1970s. The directions I had were 400m ENE

of Inveravon [Farm] but it is more easily approached from the

main road, the A904/905.

Much to my surprise and delight Sloan had not back filled

his trenches. One can find two three metre square holes with

exposed working faces, revealing layer upon layer of shells.

A similar size but more eroded drift into the slope divides the

midden. In situ shell strata are visible on both sides of this

hollow. In the surrounding wood a few piles have their tops

eroding, spilling shells. Sloan gave the dimensions as 150-

180m long (and possibly longer), 20m across and up to 3m

thick. “Massive” was his adjective and it is no exaggeration

but apart from the shell exposures described the midden is

covered by hill wash from the slope above and tree cover.

Sloan obtained radiocarbon dates of 2,200-3,000 bc for

Nether Kinneil. The adjacent site of Inveravon gave dates of

around 4,000 bc (Mackie 1972) so on these sites the resource

was exploited sustainably for about 2,000 years. Modern

man’s combined onslaught of over fishing and pollution

wiped it out in a mere fifty years, between 1870 and 1920

(Sloan 1997).

Inveravon NS 952 798 At Inveravon loose shells can be seen spilling onto the east

side of the road where they have been excavated by trenching

for a gas pipeline. Grieve traced it to the west of the road for

70 yards and to the east for 90 yards. The heap was 90 feet

across, 5-6 feet maximum height, tapering to a point on the

lower side. He called it “a vast heap”.

Polmonthill NS 947 797 This shell heap was discovered in the process of digging a

clay pit with an excavator in 1940 and described by Stevenson

(Stevenson 1946). . Stevenson’s dimensions were 170 yards

long, 25 yards across and 3-4 feet deep in the centre. Like

Nether Kinneil and Inveravon it is well covered by hill wash

and vegetation.

Kinneil House shell midden NS 975807 (Scheduled ancient monument)

This position is on land reclaimed from the sea by dykes

and presently wasteland. The level has been raised by more

than a metre above that of the adjacent field to the west by

landfill.

Right Kinneil lower foreshore P Shave.

The Grower — 4

Native oysters – update

Readers may remember in the Grower this time last year a

report of a meeting on the native oyster held in Oban. A year

later there was a follow-up meeting organised by Scottish

Natural Heritage (SNH). The native oyster is part of SNH’s

Species Action Framework set up by them in 2007. The native

oyster is also included as a priority species under the new

round of species action plans under UKBAP. The aim of the

species action framework for the native oyster includes the

following objectives:-

To halt (and reverse) decline in the status of

populations in Scotland.

To secure effective management mechanisms for

exploitation and cultivation.

Conduct further research to support policy and

management.

- habitat enhancement / recovery

- reintroduction

Continue campaign to end unlawful harvesting

Develop good practice guidelines to prevent

introduction of non-native species and disease. The main idea from the meeting was the setting up of a

steering group with the aim of getting things moving. The full

account of the meeting can be found on the SNH website

( www . s n h . o r g . u k / s p e c i e s a c t i o n f r amewo r k / s a f -

nativeoyster.asp)

The next steering group should meet in June and at regular

intervals thereafter. They will be reported here in the Grower.

At the meeting 2 potential projects, based in Shetland and

on the Forth were discussed but both are subject to funding

being found. It is hoped that the establishment of the steering

group by SNH with support in the form of personnel from

ASSG, SEPA, University of Stirling, SAMS, the Crown

Estate, North Atlantic Fisheries College Loch Ryan Shellfish

and FRS Aberdeen will give support for these proposals and

also stimulate the preparation of new proposals. There is some

money available from SNH for this work but since SNH needs

to work in partnership for such work co-funding needs to be

found.

MORE NEWS

Dates for your diary: May 20-21 2008 Shellfish Conference, Fishmongers’

Hall, London Bridge.

May 21-22 2008 AquacultureUK2008 is a new

exhibition and conference aiming to be a showcase for

the aquaculture industry in the British Isles. For

information go to www.aquacultureuk2008.co.uk

September 1-4 2008 Physiomar 08, the 2nd

international meeting devoted to physiological aspects

of marine molluscs to be held in Brest, France.http://www.univ-brest.fr/IUEM/PHYSIOMAR/

October 23-24 2008 ASSG International Conference

Oban

November 19-22, 2008 International Conference for

Shellfish Restoration, Charleston , USA

New Director for SAMS appointed

Professor Laurence Mee (pictured left) will become the new

director of SAMS. He will be taking up the new position in

September. Professor Mee is currently the Director of the

Marine Institute at the University of Plymouth and has an

international reputation for his work in marine policy.

Professor Laurence Mee is the UK’s first Professor of Marine

and Coastal Policy and has a strong research reputation for

work on modelling coupled social and ecological systems. He

is a member of the Scientific Steering Group of the IGBP

Land-Ocean Interactions in the Coastal Zone programme and

Chair of the Advisory Committee on the Protection of the

Sea. He recently acted as Special Advisor to the House of

Commons Select Committee inquiry on Investigating the

Oceans.

MBA to be replaced

The Food Standards agency have just announced a

consultation on the introduction of HPLC as a replacement for

the mouse bioassay (MBA) for the detection of paralytic

shellfish poisoning (PSP) in mussels. They are seeking views

of interested stakeholders before this change comes into place

on 5th May. The full consultation can be viewed at the FSA

web site. This is currently just for England but feel free to

send your views to the Grower if you wish. There will be important changes with this move from the

MBA to use of HPLC. For one thing results will take longer to

obtain. While negative results can generally be obtained

within 36 hours, if there are large numbers from the initial

screening indicating the presence of toxins then full results

will take a minimum of 52 hours. The FSA is seeking to hear from stakeholders on these

proposals and on any practicalities and/or difficulties that the

introduction of the quantitative HPLC method might bring.

They particularly ask:-

oDo stakeholders agree with the proposed approach to

measurement uncertainty?

oDo stakeholders agree with the application of Oshima’s

toxicity equivalence factors?

oDo stakeholders agree with the proposed result

reporting format?

The Grower — 5

Doug McLeod, Chairman of Association of

Contact details ASSG Chairman; Doug McLeod,

Mountview, Ardvasar, Isl of Skye, IV45 8RU

Tel 01471 844324

email DouglasMcLeod@aol.com

Editor Janet H Brown, Institute of

Aquaculture, University of Stirling, FK9 4LA

Tel 01786 467894

E mail j.h.brown@stir.ac.uk

I agree that there is merit in utilising this technique as a management tool, to establish background levels of apparent NoV presence, but the

inability of PCR to distinguish between viable and ‘dead’ viral articles

makes it inappropriate as a quantitative regulatory method, particularly in light of the lack of information about the level of an infectious NoV

presence. So the effort to persuade DG Sanco to require the relevant

Community Reference Lab (Cefas, Weymouth) to investigate alternative methodologies must continue, at national, European and

wider international levels. It was debated at the recent EMPA meeting

in Rimini, and raised again at the March 2008 meeting of WG 2. In the meantime, in light of the above comments from DG Sanco,

the use of RT-PCR by Cefas/FSAS in carrying out the sanitary surveys

required under Regulation (EC) 854/2004 should be resisted. Specific studies to establish data on virus prevalence/absence in growing areas

to in form risk management options, as proposed by the Community

NRLs (Galway, May 2007), is one thing; generalised ‘fishing operations’ are clearly different.

Consensus Members may recall the EU funded project, CONSENSUS, which

had the objective of identifying ‘sustainability indicators for

aquaculture’; the shellfish Working Group specified 17 indicators that

we felt reflected our sector’s main ‘sustainability’ issues, such as water quality, improvement of Regulation, environmental protection, etc, etc.

I continue to believe that these are relevant indicators for our sector,

whether they are under control of industry or require lobbying/representation of governments, regulators and Competent Authorities

to promote their achievement (a view not held by colleagues in the

French association). The project is almost complete, and the final deliverables, in addition to the CD previously distributed, with be

disseminated to members in late 2008.

ASSG AGM in Aviemore 22nd May Finally, the ASSG AGM 2008 is scheduled for the afternoon of 22

May in Aviemore, in association with ‘Aquaculture UK 2008’ – I hope

as many members (and others!) as possible will manage to attend, if not for the joy of P&L and Balance Sheet then to discuss the various

issues confronting out sector and how to respond to the several

forthcoming challenges.

My thanks to all members who have sent their

best wishes/congratulations to Cath and I - much

appreciated by both of us!!

It’s been a busy First Quarter, with meetings at Local Authority, Scottish Government and European Association level, and with a

number of documents published for consideration and responses

prepared. In the domestic context the consultation document on ‘issues’ for the proposed revision of the ‘Strategic Framework for

Scottish Aquaculture’ positively reflected an earlier presentation of

ASSG concerns to the Scottish Government; if we can achieve their inclusion in the final document we will have made significant progress

in safeguarding future growers’ interests.

Response to EFSA One of the most interesting documents to cross my desk was the

‘Scientific Opinion’ of a panel of experts on behalf of the European

Food Safety Authority (EFSA), on Okadaic Acid & analogues (DSP). In summary, the report recommends a move away from the Mouse

BioAssay, single lab validation for OA detection methods, acceptance

of chemical methods (eg LC-MS), a reduction in the maximum level of OA equivalents from 160 to 45 µg/Kg and that Pectenotoxins be

removed from inclusion in the AO regulatory limit. The ASSG

response (copies of the full response are available to interested members on request), which has been supported by colleagues from

The Netherlands, endorsed the positive recommendations of adopting

chemical methods of detection, single lab validation and the removal of Pectenotoxins from regulation. We did however object to the

reduction in Action Level to 45 µg/Kg on the grounds of both a lack of

statistical support for the measure and also the use of 400 grams as a portion size – we feel this is unrealistic when 250grams is more

typical.. The EFSA response is awaited with great interest!

EFSA expects to issue a set of ‘Opinions’ through 2008, covering the portfolio of toxin groups, so the biotoxin issue is set for a high

profile this year!

More on Biotoxins Further on the subject of biotoxins, the FSAS has issued (January

2008) a further guidance document for Local Food Authorities on the

operation of the biotoxin monitoring programme, which makes interesting reading for shellfish growers – if anyone wants an e-copy,

please get in touch. NB I trust that everyone with an interest in the

details of the draft ‘Protocol for Classification and Management of E.coli Results’ has responded to the FSAS with their comments.

Issues marine and maritime have also been prominent this Quarter,

with discussions over ‘Sustainable Seas’, issues to be covered by a Scottish Marine Bill, relocation of fish farms (and the question of what

happens with vacated areas) and the overarching debate over marine

spatial planning (including ASSG concerns over Local authority planning regimes, especially charges for applications). In many ways I

view ASSG involvement with many of these Task Forces and Working

Groups as ‘damage limitation’, to prevent our sector from being caught up in developments determined and targeted at a strategic level

– exploitation of the oceans tends to revolve around more

economically heavyweight industries than ours!

Viruses On the subject of viruses (essentially Norovirus - NoV) and

regulation, detection and assessment, RT-PCR appears to continue its relentless march towards being a food authority tool (despite not yet

being a validated reference method for official control) and eventually

a EU Legislation requirement! The DG Sanco statement ( see below) to Working Group 2 of ACFA (EU Advisory Committee on Fisheries

& Aquaculture) on 27/11/07 can be seen as another step forward in the

introduction of PCR-based regulation in the near future : “Internationally recognised methods for detection of viruses in

bivalve molluscs are not yet available from any source world-wide.

Method standardisation is being addressed through a CEN working group addressing the development of a horizontal method for the

detection of Norovirus and Hepatitis A in foodstuffs including bivalve

molluscs and a draft method is nearing completion. The next step is method validation. A formal validation study design

has been drafted and submitted through CEN for EU funding. The

laboratories currently await a decision on funding for the validation mandate (probably July 2008). CEN have specified a target date of

2012 for publication of the standard method.

The CRL has developed a virus proficiency testing scheme in support of potential future use of virus testing in legislation. Reports

are available on www.crlcefas.org . The scheme is now well

established and available to support the future implementation of virus testing in EU Legislation.”

Chairman’s Column

The Grower — 6

THE DECLINE of the native oyster led to the

Pacific oyster (Crassostrea gigas) being introduced into

the UK under quarantine for rearing trials in 1965.

These trials soon showed that it was an excellent

candidate for aquaculture in the UK. Nowadays

commercial production is widely practised with official

production statistics for the UK in 2006 showing a total

production of 1,290 tonnes, made up of 680-t in

England; 12.5-t in Wales; 251-t in Scotland and 346-t in

Northern Ireland. A look at the figures for the last 5

years shows that production in England and Wales has

risen by over 300%. Of the production in England and

Wales, 64% takes place in the South West of England,

with a further 30% from farms located in East Anglia

(CEFAS). Total production for the British Isles is

approximately 1,941 tonnes including the production

figure for Jersey of 651 tonnes in 2006.

Natural settlement of Pacific oysters

When originally introduced into the UK it was

believed unlikely that Pacific oysters would be capable

of successfully spawning and recruiting. However sea

temperature increases around the UK due to climate

change may have helped increase the incidence and

range of spawning events.

On the Atlantic and North

Sea coasts of mainland

Europe wild populations of

Pacific oysters have increased

in recent years, most likely as

a result of sea temperature

rises as well as the ban on the

use of TBT. From the

environmental organisations’

point of view there is concern

that Pacific oysters may spread out from farms and thus

threaten wildlife that is protected in particular areas,

such as European marine sites and Sites of Special

Scientific Interest. This has led to greater scrutiny of

Pacific oyster developments or modifications to

existing activities. For example, the potential impact of

wild Pacific oysters on local biodiversity is being raised

as an issue that has to be considered in environmental

assessments of both new farms and the renewal of site

leases in wildlife protected areas.

From the industry, nature conservation

agencies’ and regulators’ perspective this has led to

significant amounts of time being expended on impact

assessments, as uncertainties over the potential effect of

Pacific oysters remains. Furthermore for industry this

leads to uncertainty when planning new business

developments leading to a lack of confidence in

committing time and capital to new commercial

activities.

Protocol for Pacific oysters

An FIFG funded project through Seafish has

just started that will try to tackle this issue on behalf of

industry by seeking to identify any current and possible

future impacts of Pacific oyster cultivation on protected

wildlife. If there is likely to be an impact then the

project will seek to recommend husbandry and

management techniques that will mitigate or eliminate

these potential impacts. This is

an approach that has been

highlighted in a ‘Memorandum of

Understanding for Appropriate

Assessments in European Marine

Sites’ that is currently being

formulated between the SAGB

and Natural England. From the

environmental organisations’

perspective this project will

provide important background

information for the formation of policy with regard to

Pacific oyster cultivation.

One of the next steps for the project is to

contact industry with a view to obtaining an up to date

picture of the UK Pacific oyster sector. In this way the

project will have the necessary information to help

shape the management protocol and allow the industry

to continue to develop and prosper in the ever

increasing wildlife protected areas.

This article first appeared in FishUpdate March 2008

Pacific oyster aquaculture protocol for the UK

By Martin Syvret, Aquafish Solutions Ltd.

martin@aquafishsolutions.com

“From the environmental organisations’

point of view there is concern that

Pacific oysters may spread out from

farms and thus threaten wildlife that is

protected in particular areas, such as

European marine sites and Sites of

Special Scientific Interest.”

Left: Pacific

oysters seen

forming reef in

Waddenzee,

Netherlands

Photo Jan Smit

The Grower — 7

Tourism - friend or foe?

Hamish G. Rennie, Lincoln University

The Congress on Marine Tourism (CMT) was held in

New Zealand for the first time in August 2007. In a

seemingly unrelated event, November – December saw

the first hearing, since the 2002 moratorium on

aquaculture development, of a proposal to change a

regional coastal plan to enable new marine farm

applications being held. Tourism connects both events.

As I am one of the Commissioners hearing the

proposed plan change and we are still deliberating on the

decision I have limited my comments. Suffice to say

that the hearing related to the Northland Regional

Coastal Plan covering the top of the North Island. This

includes the Bay of Islands, one of New Zealand’s

premier marine tourism places, and many of the

submitters argued that tourism and marine aquaculture

were incompatible. Under questioning, it became

apparent that rack culture of oysters was of particular

concern to submitters. The negative views of

aquaculture had not been helped by some past

management practices and the perceived abandonment

of farms, particularly following a pollution event of

uncertain origin that had severely affected the operations

of farms in an inlet near a major yacht marina and

historic sites.

These negative messages from tourism were in stark

contrast to the CMT. The Congress is the major

gathering of academics and researchers interested in

marine tourism and one session was devoted to the

growing research on seafood tourism. This session

included a seafood cooking demonstration, by Michelin

starred chef Alan Brown, and a presentation by long

time aquaculture industry advocate Graeme Coates on

the development of an

aquaculture tourism trail by

the New Zealand Marine

Farmers Association.

The aquaculture trail

focuses on the “Top of the

South” Island, a primarily

mussel farming region. In addition to Nelson, “the

largest fishing port in Australasia”, the region is home to

“Havelock, the Greenshell mussel capital of the world”,

the Havelock Mussel festival, salmon farms, and some

of the country’s most impressive wineries. The link

between fine wine and seafood is strongly made in the

marketing of the trail, which is aimed at people driving

around the region. Boaties, who have been amongst the

most vigorous opponents to aquaculture in the

Marlborough Sounds and Coromandel regions, were

clearly not the target market for the trail. Another CMT

presentation focussed on the seafood component of the

European Union’s Northern Periphery Programme’s

Northern Coastal Experience (NORCE). A key

component of this programme to diversify local

economies and promote heritage-based tourism is the

development of culinary tourism experiences, including

Scotland.

Shortly after the Northland hearing I drove to the town

of Coromandel on a Peninsula south of Auckland. This

town is near the site of the first mussel farm in New

Zealand and has a long history of rack oyster farming.

On the side of the road we stopped at a fish store.

Behind it, was a tidy oyster rack farm and factory. On

the shelves was a glossy “home grown food trail”

pamphlet. This targeted tourists driving the popular

Peninsula route and the oyster shop was one of three

seafood stops. Others included macadamia nuts,

chocolate, a winery and an ostrich farm.

Coromandel also has a mussel

barge tourist charter that takes

people fishing and visits mussel

farms. In July 2007, I took a

fieldtrip of people attending the

international Conserv-vision

Conference at Waikato

University on that mussel barge trip. It was very

informative, somewhat biased in favour of the industry,

but generally realistic about the industry and its potential

to conflict with other users and to adversely affect the

environment.

It seems that the aquaculture industry, no matter

where it is, has the potential to find both friends and foes

in the tourism industry. Much depends on how keen

marine farmers are to be environmentally friendly and

integrate into the burgeoning seafood and charter boat

tourism industries. There may be a difference between

seaborne and terrestrial travellers in their relationships

with aquaculture, but steps are being taken to build

positive relationships. I hope to bring news of the

Northland decision in my next report. Useful links and references:

www.nzmfa.co.nz

www.thecoromandel.com

We welcome back our original “New Zealand”

correspondent this issue. Hamish Rennie was a Senior

Lecturer in the Geography, Tourism and Environmental

Planning Department at the University of Waikato in

Hamilton, New Zealand. In 2002 he completed a doctorate

studying the effects of different methods of allocating

marine space for aquaculture in New Zealand and

subsequently visited Scotland, New England, Atlantic

Canada and the Netherlands looking at marine aquaculture

allocation policies, plans and processes. But since his

original contributions for us he has moved to Lincoln

University. He can be contacted at:rennieh@lincoln.ac.nz

“It seems that the aquaculture

industry, no matter where it is, has

the potential to find both friends and

foes in the tourism industry”

The Grower — 8

The food programme devoted itself to oysters this

week and we can only welcome this interest. The

programme ended with a tasting session in Borough

Market which might not have made brilliant radio but

did instil envy in the listener’s ears (taste buds?) and

Tom Pickerell of SAGB managed to point out the high

omega 3 value of the oysters.

But the BBC may have exacerbated a serious divide in

the oyster culture world. One oyster fisherman, Richard

Haward interviewed on the programme has applied for

PGI (Protected Geographical Indicator) status for the

natives he fishes in the creeks of Mersea Island. Yet he

plans to release gigas to the wild next year and talked

blithely of “wild Japanese oysters” as if, taken from the

sea uncluttered by bags, trestles and a farmer’s care they

would be intrinsically better than the farmed variety.

Salmon farmers know all about this prejudice; so

many celebrity chefs with the notable exception of Nick

Nairn, all extol the benefits of “wild” salmon over

farmed salmon when this lies for the most part in the

better appearance of their fins alone. To try to extend

this distinction to “wild” oysters when this will simply

mean oysters dumped out on the sea bed to do their

worst, is a development that must be nipped in the bud.

Aquaculture basically follows agriculture albeit at the

distance of some millennia. We do not talk about the

benefits of “wild” Friesian cows, “wild” Aberdeen

Angus. No, we are happy to buy meat of known quality

bred for their particular qualities or suitability for culture

in a particular environment. We need to aim for the

same with aquaculture produce and the more farmers

who take the short sighted approach of abandoning

control of their product, the longer it will take to breed

quality oysters that suit our conditions.

Scotland and Denmark are the only countries to

control the release of Pacific oysters by insisting they

are cultured in contained systems. Maybe others should

follow suit. The premium prices should lie with the

better quality product produced by careful husbandry.

If you missed the programme try the listen again option at

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/factual/foodprogramme.shtml

COMMENT

The Food Programme BBC Sunday 23 March

Pictured above Dr Alexandra Markert of Senkenberg

Institute, Wilhelmshaven gets kitted out in the chain mail

she “knitted” to allow her to walk on the beach without her

boots being shredded by the gigas shells pictured left.

Pictured left oyster reefs consisting of feral Pacific oysters

in the Waddenzee. Photo left courtesy of Norbert Dankers.

And while we are on about oysters, while you cannot legislate for common names, unlike the scientific names, let us

all be clear what we are talking about ……...

Flat oyster Ostrea as in the native oyster

Ostrea edulis

Cup oyster Crassostrea as in

Japanese oyster, Pacific oyster or

cupped

oyster

Rock oyster Saccostrea as in

Sydney Rock oyster

FURTHER COMMENT

The Grower — 9

Clive Askew retires

Last December, Doug McLeod arranged a meeting

with Argyll and Bute Council, at which he posed the

question: “Why is the shellfish production of Argyll,

with its wealth of natural marine resources and long

coastline, not greater than a few hundred tons of

mussels and a few hundred thousand oysters? What is

constraining it, and why?”

Bruce Marshall, a Councillor with Argyll and Bute

Council, found he could not answer that question, and

so, full credit to him, he convened three further

meetings: the first involved senior Argyll and Bute

Council Officers (Planning, Development,

Environmental Health, Coastal development) and

representatives of our industry, in the shape of Walter

Spiers, Dave Attwood and Roger Thwaites, at which a

very useful and robust exchange of views took place,

resulting in both sides having a better understanding of

the others problems.

This led to via a second to a third meeting hosted by

Bruce on behalf of Argyll and Bute Council which took

place at the George Hotel, Inveraray on January 25th,

jointly chaired by the Argyll MSP and Enterprise

Minister Jim Mather, and the Environment Minister

Mike Russell. This was a much larger meeting and

included representatives of the marine finfish and

salmon sectors as well as shellfish. SEPA, FSA ,

Scottish Government, FRS, Crown Estate, HIE and AIE

and SNH were all represented. The two Government

Ministers made it very clear that they wanted to know

what the constraints and opportunities for aquaculture

were, and that the SNP administration intends to

encourage sustainable and profitable aquaculture, and

eliminate unnecessary barriers.

Top of the list of constraints as far as shellfish

farmers are concerned are issues surrounding the FSA,

classification and biotoxin testing, followed by planning

difficulties, delays and ultimate refusals, and the

difficulty of obtaining finance. Out of perhaps a

hundred issues raised by all present, these ones stand

out:

Shellfish farmers are determined to produce safe,

healthy and nutritious seafood, and we must not be

hindered by inappropriate monitoring by FSA.

FSA’s reaction to problems can be knee-jerk,

draconian and sometimes inexplicable.

We are over-regulated.

There needs to be some joined up thinking between

FSA and SEPA. SEPA should be responsible for water

quality in our growing waters, and FSA’s responsibility

should only start when the product becomes food. We

maintain that the classification system does nothing for

food safety.

FSA stated that their interest is not in a sustainable

shellfish industry producing good food, but in food

safety. They were accused of minimising a perceived

problem by minimising the shellfish industry.

The vastly increased cost of planning applications is

a brake on development. Who is going to spend

thousands of pounds on an application when in all

likelihood the application will take a year or more to

process, and then be turned down?

We appear to be bottom of the pile when space in

sea lochs is allocated on a planning basis to marine

activities.

Thus available sites are very hard to identify and

still harder to obtain. Perhaps redundant, unused sites

could be freed-up

Finance is hard to get. Banks are very wary of

aquaculture of any form. Stock and equipment is not

regarded as an asset to lend against, and small scale

shellfish farming is not well suited to venture capital.

The short lease term does not help raise finance.

What’s the next step? Well the Ministers have

made it clear that it is up to us to press our cases on the

various issues as hard as we can. “We have listened,

now the ball’s back in your court” is the message.

There is no doubt that the people who matter have

heard our point of view, and we should press it home as

hard as we can. Of course, although this series of

meetings was convened by Argyll and Bute Council in

response to Doug’s initiative, the issues are common to

all areas, and I would urge all shellfish farmers to

involve their Councillors and MSPs. It remains to be

seen if we can actually force some changes and whether

the Scottish Government will put their money where

their mouth is, but at least they have listened to us.

Meetings with Scottish Government and Argyll and Bute Council

Roger Thwaites reports

Dr Clive Askew retired at

the end of February after 17

years as Assistant Director

to the Shellfish Association

of Great Britain. A regular

attendee and contributor to

debate at the ASSG

International conference

Clive was well-known in the

shellfish world at large. He

has been active in the SAGB

championing problems with

DSP in the past and with his

most current passion for

espousing the very real

health benefits of shellfish

he has made a very profound mark. He will in fact

continue to work in this particular field so hopefully his

retiral from the SAGB is not a complete departure from

shellfish after 40 years in the shellfish business.

The Grower — 10

Sharing experiences in long line blue mussel farming in Denmark Helle Torp Christensen,

During the last five years the number of mussel

farmers in Denmark has increased from one or two small

farms in the beginning of the century to 45 licenses in

2007. Between 2005 and 2006 alone the production

increased from 130 tonnes to 406 tonnes.

A new business in Denmark Because mussel production is relatively new in

Denmark it has been difficult for the farmers to adapt

production technology and methodology to the local

conditions. Existing production systems and experiences

from other mussel producing countries have been

adjusted and implemented supported by governmentally

financed research and the mussel farmers development

activities. In cooperation with Danish Shellfish Centre

and Danish Mussel Farmer Association, Technical

University of Denmark (DTU Aqua) has conducted a

project on experience sharing in long line blue mussel

farming in Denmark among mussel farmers. The aim of

the project was to consolidate the development in

mussel farming by making a system to collect, organise

and communicate the experiences about e.g. growing

methods, and to report the development in the

production and productions methods. The experience

sharing project was financed by EU and the Danish

Ministry for Food, Agriculture and Fisheries. Requirements for the future Interviews with established and new farmers identified

important structural issues in relation to support of

development of the mussel production. These issues

include establishment of machine stations especially

servicing new and/or smaller farmers that do not have

the opportunity to finance large investment, centralise

tubing of seed mussels where the farmer deliver seed

mussels in loose weight and collect them in stockings,

development of new machines and equipment, branding

of farmed mussels, attracting capital through

documented success and establishing permanent local

groups to share knowledge and experiences.

Skills like handling of production facilities, biological

knowledge and HR management is also issues for the

experience sharing project. In the early stage of business

development problems concerning production has

become clearly obvious. Because of lack of experiences

it has been very hard for the farmers to forecast the

production. Expectations overshoot as a rule the real

production, due to unforeseen effects of e.g. bio fouling,

market issues and algae blooms. Some of these problems

can be handled by a change in practice.

Mussel farming has a great potential in Denmark. The

structure of the business will develop from many small

farms to few large and fewer small farms. In Denmark

cost of labour is high, therefore farmers have to

mechanise and rationalise the production by investment

in expensive machinery. Paybacks of these investments

demand a high coefficient of utilisation and then large

units. Small farms can exist if they specialise in a niche

production of e.g. high quality mussels.

Why collaborate and share experiences? Through the experience sharing project the mussel

production in Denmark has become more transparent

and professional. The project has helped to describe the

business and at the same time business structure and

bottlenecks in relation to growth and development has

become more obvious which make it easier to attract

investors and to get a bank loan.

Requirements needed for future development have

been identified which makes it possible for farmers and

R&D organisations to focus research and development

into the specific areas. All together the collaboration

between the farmers gives them a stronger profile in the

competition for market shares.

The next step In 2008 a new experience sharing project will

hopefully be established and the next step will be to

continue collecting and structuring experiences focusing

on geographic specific experiences, mussel farming in

general and branding of Danish long line blue mussels.

Helle has an MSc in Environmental Biology and Communications.

Previously she was working with different kinds of stakeholders

e.g. mussel growers, fishermen and other local stakeholders, in

relation to solving biological problems and surveys and she has

now spent this last year as a research assistant employed at the

National Institute of Aquatic Research in Denmark, where she

been working mainly on the experience sharing project together

with mussel growers. Sharp eyed readers may recognise Helle

from last year’s ASSG conference!

The Grower — 11

The Grower — 12

Wanted Second hand retuber in good

condition

Contact J MacGregor & Sons

tel ephone 07900604728

or

01852300334

Pictured above Mussel farmers, interviewed as part of the project reported on page 10, in one of the harbours in

Limfjorden, in the northern part of Denmark where the

mussel farming mostly started. Today farms are to be

found all over Denmark.

Scallop farming equipment

Available on ‘free to collector’ basis. What : More than 1000 used plastic trays

for growing Scallop or Queen Scallop

spat. Plus : appropriate tubular mesh

Where : Knoydart near Mallaig, West

Coast of Scotland

Size : 1 foot diameter, grid holes are

3.5mm square, assembled in lanterns of 15

trays, 50mm

between trays.

State : Clean

enough to be used

straight away

Contact : Peter

Klemm at

pitklemm@hotmail.com

What

(or

why) is

this?

Answer on page 8

Photo: Harald

Marancik of the

International Wadden

Sea Secretariat