Putting all your eggs in one basket is probably a bad idea. Lots of gear types, lots of sites, lots of failures, means lots of learning. The best sites have both rich food and good flow.ġ3) Try everything at first. If you have rich waters you can get away with less current and vice versa. More Flow – More Grow – More Doughġ2) Once more for emphasis Flow and food concentration will determine your stocking densities, growth rates, meat quality, etc. Water does not pass through a 1mm mesh bag without a pump. Maximize flow by sieving animals often and moving them to the next larger size mesh as soon as possible (but don’t violate rule 5). Hardly any water will go through a bag that is fouled or covered with seaweed/eelgrass/kelp or anything else that blocks the flow.ġ1) I’ll say it again Flow is really important. 90% of the flow goes around a clean ½” mesh bag. Current carries new food to the oysters in the bag after they have eaten everything in the water inside the bag. It is better than trying to clean up after a storm has strewn your crop around the bay.ġ0) Starving oysters don’t grow. Design your anchors and lines for the worst case. Big waves will also mobilize vast amounts of sand that will settle out in your bottom bags and cages, smothering everything inside while making the bags incredibly heavy. Even heavy cages in deep water can be shredded. If you lose a cup of ½” seed you won’t notice the difference.ĩ) Mother Nature is your partner, not your friend. If you loose a cup of 1mm seed you have lost 250,000 seed. It costs more, but you will have a shorter time to market and you will avoid some of the pitfalls of working with small seed. You can always sell surplus seed if you don’t have adequate space to grow it out.Ĩ) Learn to walk, before you run. Seed is not your biggest cost of operations – labor is, but if you don’t have seed you won’t have sales. One will probably underperform and you will toss these seed out after the first season. Chances are one will have a problem and not be able to fill your order. You can learn just as much by killing a few thousand as you can by killing millions.ħ) Order seed early and give deposits to 2-3 different hatcheries in February. Don’t plant millions until you know it works with a few thousand. A 10-minute dip in hot brine will kill more than just fouling organisms.Ħ) Start small. My rule of thumb… mesh size of the sieve should be ~1.5 X the mesh size of the bag you are going into.ĥ) If you use a brine dip tank to control mud blisters or boring sponge, ensure that it doesn’t warm up in the sun. When you get your seed, test it in a way where you can recover any seed that slips through the mesh.Ĥ) If you put oyster seed in a bag with openings that are too close to the seed size, many will grow into the mesh and you will have to kill them to separate them from the bag. Order seed that is retained on a mesh larger than your smallest mesh or ask the hatchery what size screens they sort their seed on. 3mm seed will not be retained in a 3mm mesh bag. Overstocking bags and failing to stay on top of fouling is the number one most common failure.ģ) Learn the difference between sieve size and seed size. Overcrowding and poor husbandry leads to poor growth, bad meat condition and can potentially lead to diseases and overwinter mortality. Don’t buy/plant more seed than you have gear to grow it in or time to maintain. The money you save from the tips you will learn will more than pay for your time.Ģ) Don’t get greedy. Volunteer to work with more experienced growers. ![]() If you don't have 28 minutes to watch a video of the narrated power point presentation (above), check out the Tips for Success below.ġ) Don’t think you know it all. ![]() ![]() Through the years he has continued to add to the list. ECSGA Executive Director Bob Rheault decided he would try to think of as many of these common pitfalls as he could to help new growers avoid making the same costly blunders. If you have been around this business for a while, you’ve probably watched some of the newcomers make the same mistakes you did when you were getting started.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |