How are oysters grown in the USA? aslan wrote in June 24th, 2016

Humanity has been eating these mollusks for more than two thousand years. Once upon a time, in those days when oysters lived in abundance in wildlife They were considered a poor man's dish, but uncontrolled fishing led to their population plummeting, and by the second half of the 19th century, oysters became a delicacy.

They are grown in different countries world on special farms. The richest oyster regions are the Pacific and Atlantic coasts.

Today we will learn how these shellfish are grown in the American state of Maryland.

1. The oyster farming industry is rapidly growing in Maryland. The bivalves are farmed under 300 licenses issued over 1,456 hectares of Chesapeake Bay, both in the water and on the bay floor. Pictured: Timothy Devine, owner of Barren Island Oysters, which began farming oysters in June 2013.

Oysters prefer seawater with a low salt content, so they live only in the tidal zone near river mouths.

2. Selected Choptank oysters are washed in the Choptank River.

The first stage of oyster farming is the collection of juveniles (spat) into collectors exposed on oyster banks during their breeding season. At first, bundles of rods (fascines) were used as collectors, but then they began to use tile plates curved in the form of a trench, coated with a special composition, from which it is easy to scrape off the juveniles that have settled on them. Nowadays, plastic collectors with flexible plates of various shapes are used.

3. One of the farmed oysters.

The spat collectors are left in place for several months, and then the slightly grown juveniles are transferred into mesh frames, or these days into plastic or plastic bags. metal mesh, called “poches” (from the French poche - pocket), which stand on posts at a height of 25-30 cm above the bottom, or on wooden “tables”. This measure protects the frames from being covered with silt and from predators, especially starfish.

4. Kevin McClarren, who runs Choptank, has been selling farmed oysters since 2005.

In some farms, parks for breeding shells are protected from the breakwater by a cemented shaft and are divided into rows of pools; The inflow and outflow of water during ebb and flow is regulated by gateways.

5. Oysters “grow” on rafts on the Choptank River. Choptank sold its first oysters in 2005.

6. Kevin McClarren grows oysters on 1.62 hectares on the Choptank River using a technology he invented.

In such industrial parks, oysters are grown for two years, after which they are transferred to nursery tanks. Until the 1960s, some salts and a culture of chlorella algae were added to these pools, which quickly multiply in this nutrient medium and serve as food for oysters.

7. From left: Hector Medouena and Kevin Covey return oysters to their cage before releasing them into Tar Bay.

Since not everyone who gets into intestinal tract the organisms are digested by mollusks, and an optimal (not excessive) concentration of chlorella cells is maintained in the rearing pools. Additives to the natural environment are not allowed these days.

8. Timothy Devine takes one of his oysters out of the tank.

9. Oysters in the mesh of the raft in which they grow.

10. Hector Medouena and Kevin Covey retrieve a cage of oysters from Tar Bay.

11. Regan Gifford with buckets of oysters on the pier.

People living on the banks warm seas, have been harvesting and using oysters for food since time immemorial. They began to artificially grow them back during the Roman Empire. Even the ancient Greeks and Celts grew oysters at home.

12. Hector Medouena and Kevin Covey return the cage to Tar Bay.

13. Manuel Garcia understands the floating raft. Once the growth stage here is completed, the oysters will be sent to Thar Bay for further development.

The rule that oysters should only be eaten during months with the letter “P” in their names became obsolete around the same time that artificial oyster farming became widespread. Now the months when oysters produce caviar can be changed at the discretion of the producer, and in addition, there are also oysters that do not produce caviar. Although, there is another explanation for this rule - oysters on beds actually spoil faster in the summer.

14. Johnny Shockley, co-owner of Chesapeake Gold Oysters, steers the boat. His company breeds oysters for commercial sale at the market.

Oysters, which, like most other individuals, have two sexes, can change it. This can happen several times during the life of the oyster, under the influence of various factors. It’s funny that oysters usually start their lives as “men”, and after being well fed and ready to produce offspring, they become “women”. Therefore, it is even possible for an oyster to fertilize its own eggs.

15. Manuel Garcia with a handful of young oysters.

The flavor of oysters can be as varied as wine, depending on the region where she lived, and can be salty, sweet, mineral or even melon-like.

16. Manuel Garcia opens an adult oyster.

Recently, a team of American and Italian scientists scientifically proved that oysters contain rare amino acids that increase the content of sexual hormones. Oyster meat contains protein, fat, glycogen carbohydrate, minerals (iron, zinc, copper, calcium, iodine, phosphorus), nicotinic acid, as well as vitamins B1, B2, B12 and PP. Just 6 oysters - and the body's daily need for iron and copper is provided!

17. Chesapeake Gold Oysters vessel at work.

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At the end of 2014, French oysters disappeared from Moscow restaurants. But restaurateurs and gourmets did not grieve for long: the number of imported shellfish decreased almost threefold, from 1.55 thousand tons in 2014 to 489 tons in 2015, but domestic ones appeared everywhere. The question is where.

Currently, two types of oysters are produced in Russia. Wild ones are caught on Far East, Pacific (don’t let the name fool you) are grown in the Black Sea from shellfish brought from abroad.

“In two years, the volume of oyster production has increased almost 25 times, from 2 tons in 2014 to a projected 50 tons in 2016,” the Federal Fisheries Agency reassures.

From juveniles to commercial oysters

The Courchevel farm, located in Sochi, has been in existence for eight years, four of which have been producing oysters. The company purchases juveniles (aka spat) from the France Turbo nursery in France. “Shellfish are very fastidious, so they are transported by plane in special thermally insulated containers with a temperature of +8 °C,” says Deputy General Director of Courchevel Maxim Kryukov. According to him, deliveries have been confirmed customs declaration, and an agreement has been concluded between the countries on common veterinary certificates. “When we receive permission to import spat from Rosselkhoznadzor, the nursery from which we are importing has already been checked for compliance with all standards.”

After transportation, the juveniles are taken to a farm, where they are counted, sorted and sent to quarantine in isolated place to check for diseases. After 21 days, the shellfish are taken out to sea and placed in cages on the plantation. To do this, a rope is stretched in the sea at a depth of three to six meters parallel to the water surface, onto which the cages are suspended.

It takes two and a half years for an oyster to grow to marketable size. The company purchases spat in the fall—at this time of year, mollusks are most viable.

This year, Courchevel purchased 2.5 million fingerlings, but in the end only about 30% will go on sale. “Some of the fry are eaten by marine life, others are stolen by tourists and poachers. The fact is that the plots allocated by the state have the status of public use. Therefore, anyone can swim to the plantation and do whatever they want,” explains Maxim Kryukov. Sanctions, he said, contribute to the development of domestic oyster production. Last year, the company supplied its products to the metropolitan online store of farm products Season Market and restaurants of the RmCom chain, but the demand for oysters is so high that this year they had to refuse supplies to Moscow - everything is eaten on the coast.

We grow oysters ourselves

Develop technology for cultivating Black Sea (Pacific) oysters in natural conditions candidate of biological sciences and owner of a small oyster production on Bolshoy Utrish, Sergei Panskoy, began back in the Soviet Union: “We tried to get oysters in laboratories, then plant them in the sea and grow them. It was a scientific program, we created experimental plantations, but after the collapse of the country scientific activity stopped." For the last 10 years Sergey has been working in joint stock company"Nautical Club". Here there is a prototype of an industrial site where they grow European mollusks.

Despite the fact that China is in first place in mariculture, Sergei Panskoy does not dare to buy juveniles from it.

“The sea there is completely different, warmer, and besides, logistics have long been established with Europe, and planting material always high quality,” he explains.

The plot is small - 1.4 hectares; the farm produces about 1 ton of marketable oysters per year. “To cultivate mollusks, we use universal carriers - this is a structure on which specialized bags and baskets in which the oyster grows are suspended in the sea,” says Sergei Panskoy. Equipment for oyster production also has to be ordered from Europe.

Based on the shape of their shell, oysters are divided into two groups: flat and deep, known as Pacific oysters.

There are few biological species of oysters, only three or four: Portuguese, giant, mangrove and European. Wherein marketing types There are about 50 species of oysters.

The name depends on the area where they were grown, water temperature and technology (it is even important how the mollusks grew - with the help of ebbs or flows). “If you keep an oyster in separately closed ponds, as in France, and feed it with certain types of algae, then a lot of names will appear with pink, blue, royal and imperial species,” explains Sergei Panskoy. But Russia does not yet have its own nurseries equipped with such technologies.

Put money to work

The prospect of aquaculture development attracts investors. At the Russian Agricultural Policy Summit, which took place in Sochi at the end of September, several investors announced their willingness to invest in oyster nurseries. Whether this is actually possible is still unclear.

According to the head of the oyster and mussel plantation Firm Agrokompleks in the Krasnodar Territory, Viktor Nechvidyuk, creating a plantation is very difficult. “The most important thing in this matter is the preparation of the food base, algae. At each stage of life, the fry eat different types algae - red, black, brown, mixed in different proportions. For the nursery to function, it is necessary to create several pools with different water temperatures in one building. In addition, in Russia there is no demand for such a volume of spat; we are not in France, where the larvae are sold for sale in other countries.”

More oysters

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This year, the Federal Fisheries Agency held several auctions to allocate sites for shellfish cultivation. Two plots located on the southern coast of the Crimean Peninsula, with an area of ​​119 and 90.6 hectares, were put up for auction. The winner of the auction was the Crimean Seafood company on Lake Donuzlav. The producer has already purchased more than 5 million oyster spat; the main harvest is expected by the summer of 2017, although a small part of the oysters have already reached marketable size. According to the general director of Krymmoreprodukty, Dionisy Sevastyanov, supply agreements have already been concluded with the Ginza and Novikov Group restaurants.

Despite the fact that spat is brought from France, oysters grown in Russia differ in taste from their foreign relatives.

“In France, artificial pools with desalinated water are being built Mediterranean Sea. But the water in the Mediterranean Sea is much saltier than in the Black Sea, and this greatly affects the taste. In order for the French to create a taste similar to our oysters, they will have to make great efforts,” explains Dionisy Sevastyanov.

Currently, three types are grown on the farm: Crimean oyster, Crimean oyster and Tauride oyster. In the future, the company plans to build its own nursery. “We plan to restore the population of the Crimean oyster, we are currently negotiating with the French. The nursery will produce its own oyster spat fry and will no longer have to purchase it from Europeans. We will be able to sell spat to everyone in Russia,” Dionisy Sevastyanov shares his plans for the future.

Wild but cute

Wild oysters are supplied to the capital's restaurants from the Far East. One of the largest enterprises on Sakhalin is the Putina company. Oysters are caught at a depth of seven to eight meters in Solovyovka Bay, an ecologically clean place where there are no industries. Then the product undergoes veterinary control and is transported to Moscow in containers with sea ​​water. According to general director company "Putin" Vladimir Boyarov, the oyster settles in places with good water exchange and plenty of oxygen and reproduces naturally. “Getting oysters in winter is especially difficult. At minus 28°C, the diver works on the ice for almost 24 hours.

Two hours under the ice, then a short break to warm up, and then back under the ice.

To do this, three cylinders of oxygen are consumed per day,” he clarifies.

However, such work is justified: Sakhalin delicacies are enjoyed in great demand for gourmets. “Visitors often order Far Eastern oysters. They are more expensive than imported ones, but also larger in size. In addition, they retain their quality for a long time. Having received a container of oysters, we immediately unload them into the restaurant’s aquarium, where they remain fresh and alive for four to five weeks,” says Pavel Raldugin, art director of the Clumba Club restaurant.

Settle and grow

Wayne Parry/AP

In the Far East, oysters are not only caught, but also grown to commercial size artificially. Unlike farms located in the Black Sea, the spat used here is domestic. The larvae are collected at the bottom of the sea, and grown to marketable form in special hanging cages. “We place collectors in the sea on which the larvae settle. When the mollusk grows to the size of a penny, we transplant it to other cages, where the oyster reaches a marketable state,” says Alexander Naryzhny, director of the Zarubinsk Fleet Base in Primorye. This year the enterprise put out 8 thousand collectors; how many fry have settled will be known closer to the end of October.

The Zarubinskaya Fleet Base has been producing oysters since the times of the Soviet Union.

After the collapse of the country, the company’s activities stopped, and it was possible to resume work only in 2011.

Now the work is actively bearing fruit: last year 8 tons of oysters were sold, this year (as of October 1) - 7.8 tons.

The production of Far Eastern oysters will continue to develop. A plot of more than 10.8 thousand hectares in the Sea of ​​Japan has already been put up for auction. According to the Deputy Minister Agriculture Ilya Shestakov, the distribution of plots in the Primorsky Territory should increase the area for growing seafood by 50%. The most promising areas for growing oysters are now considered to be the shores of Sakhalin, Primorsky and Khabarovsk Territories.

Mussels and oysters are marine mollusks and have a special taste. The cost of such a product in restaurants is quite high; it is not surprising that many people wonder whether it is possible to breed oysters at home and how to get the maximum profit from it.

Today, demand exceeds supply; restaurants and cafes are always happy to receive fresh batches of shellfish. So even when selling at a wholesale price that is less than the market price, the businessman still remains in the black.

Cultivation can be of two types: natural (more suitable for those entrepreneurs who live near the warm sea coast) and artificial. In general, the farm equipment in both cases will be needed approximately the same.

We will equip a natural farm

In this case, the conditions for breeding oysters should be as follows:

1. The depth of the reservoir is at least 20 meters.
2. The bottom must be made as smooth as possible.
3. The farm needs to be protected from waves and from algae pollution.
4. Equipment should be purchased to supply the mollusks with food and oxygen.
5. Periodically, microbiological tests of water must be done at the breeding site.

The business does not require a lot of labor; it is enough to provide the mollusks with comfortable conditions for living and breeding.

Harvest process

Growing oysters in a natural type farm assumes that it takes an average of 3 years to grow into an adult and marketable mollusk. You will need to be patient and buy necessary tools.

The entrepreneur begins by collecting young oysters during their reproduction in late spring - early summer. Meanwhile, the settled larvae begin to grow.

Then they are transferred from the collectors to special pockets - these can be either simple plastic bags or frames with a mesh stretched over them. They are placed so that the frames do not reach the bottom, this will protect young oysters from their enemies in the natural environment.

For about 2 years, the oyster farm has been operating on these fields, all this time the mollusks feed on the plankton that the sea brings.

To give them a more attractive presentation and fleshiness, they are collected and transferred to nursery pools with sea water, into which a little fresh water is partially mixed.

The shellfish are kept in such pools for about a year, after which they can be transferred for sale. The payback occurs in about a season, but you just need to understand that this season lasts 3 years - until the mollusks grow.

After a successful start and sale of the first batch of meat, new ones can be produced annually, which will reduce the waiting period to a year. This will make it possible to sell large quantities of shellfish in approximately equal periods of time - about a year and a half.

Growing oysters at home means hiring a small number of staff to collect and sort the shellfish.

What is needed for artificial breeding?

Thanks to modern technologies You can grow oysters even in regions that, it would seem, are not intended for this at all.

Special installations are becoming especially popular closed type, in which it is easy to create conditions for growing shellfish of any size and breed. They are called RAS and cost from 10 thousand dollars. But due to their versatility and cost-effectiveness, they quickly pay for themselves and the entrepreneur receives all the invested funds back with interest.

Oyster farming includes the following manipulations:

• Periodic cleaning of cages from growing algae and accumulated dirt.
• Sorting oysters that have grown and transplanting them into larger cages.
• Removal of rapana and its offspring (a predator that can harm oysters).
• Separation of those mollusk shells that have grown together.

Then, once they reach marketable size, the oysters are sorted, weighed and packed into boxes. Optimal size batches - from 1 to 15 kg. Live mollusks in this form can live up to 10 days at temperatures from 1 to 10C.

Economic feasibility and approximate investments in your business

After about 2-3 years from the date of purchase, mussels can be sold. The optimal size of mussels is from 4 to 6 cm; older ones usually have tough and tasteless meat.

This means that during the first two years, oyster farming as a business will be an unprofitable enterprise, and only in the third year of operation the farm will generate income sufficient to cover all operating costs.

Approximately in the 5th year, as soon as the businessman reaches the planned production volumes, the payback will reach a level when the profit for the year is 10 or more times higher than the annual costs. From one cable 100 meters long it will be possible to remove up to 4 tons of mussels annually, of which 1200 kilograms are pure meat.

Up to 10 tons of oysters can be produced annually by the smallest farm that uses manual labor(harvest processing is carried out by a pair of specially trained employees). For more experienced entrepreneurs, a farm of 30-50 hectares in size is suitable, from which up to 1000 tons of shellfish can be collected per year.

Farm construction costs:

1. Organization and construction of cages - from 500 thousand rubles.
2. Purchase of spat (mollusk larvae) – from 10 thousand rubles.
3. Construction of a nursery for planting larger mollusks - from 130 thousand rubles.
4. Wage for staff – from 50 thousand monthly.

Business registration issues

To be able to enter into contracts for the supply of oysters with large restaurants and other places Catering, the entrepreneur will need to undergo official registration.

To do this, you need to become an individual entrepreneur or LLC, then register with the tax service and choose the appropriate taxation system.

• Governmental support
• How to open an oyster farm
• Documentation
• Certification
• Oyster Farm Business Plan
• Business development prospects
• Conclusion

Among the numerous business ideas, a modern entrepreneur should pay attention to one such asoyster farmin Crimea, the product of which is in increasing demand, while the supply is very limited. Yes, yes, limited! Despite the fact that the country is experiencing a boom in entrepreneurship, there are still practically unoccupied niches for organizing unusual and very profitable business.

Oysters are classified as delicacies not only for their exquisite taste, but also for their excellent dietary properties.Oyster dishes often decorate the tables of both high-ranking receptions and corporate events.They are present on the menu of all major restaurants in Russia, and in the southern resorts most tourists and vacationers dream of trying them.

Therefore, you will always have unlimited demand for products, which creates an advantage over the majority other business ideas. The costs of organization and launch are minimal, mainly the initial capital investment in construction. Do you understand that the price for this type production is not just high, but very high. So it’s not hard to guess what kind of profit this business promises you - it’s huge!

In Russian conditionscultivation businessoysters have broad prospects and advantages:

• there is practically no competition, since demand exceeds supply;
• except the initial investment in the construction and organization of the farm in the future you will not need large attachments;
• in our country there is a huge length of sea coast on which enterprises can be established;
• year-round opportunity to harvest;
• The natural habitat creates a sufficient food supply for breeding and growing shellfish, thereby reducing operating costs.

Currently, industrial farmsoyster farmingwe exist in all the southern seas, the White Sea, the Baltic and the Far Eastern region. And now the most attractive business idea isoyster farm in Crimea.

What will we get in Crimea:

• free investment niche;
• growing demand for products;
• inexpensive hiring of workers;
• the possibility of setting up a farm “at sea”;
• compliance of products with the world level of competition.

Governmental support

In our country, the Government adopted the law “On the development of mariculture”, with the help of which it is implemented governmental support growing businessoysters and mussels. Thus, by law, our state motivates entrepreneurs to open an oyster farm in Crimea.

What will you receive from the state under the support program:

• tax exemption;
• exemption from water lease;
• possibility of subsidies.

Combining all of the above, we come to the conclusion that the farm for growingoysters and musselsin Crimea, taking into account rather small own investments.

Types of oysters cultivated in Crimea

Krymskaya oyster– grown from French spat in the waters of Lake Donuzlav, near Evpatoria, Crimea. It has a unique, piquant, slightly salty taste and a denser consistency. It is valued all over the world and is in special demand.

Tauride oyster - the culture is grown from the Far Eastern spat, but in the less salty Black Sea, the taste of the oyster is pleasantly salty. Meat highest quality, in color from beige to black, contains a lot of microelements useful for humans.

Crimean oyster – a flat oyster, it is grown from Zarubinsky spat. Oysters have a spicy aroma and a pronounced salty taste. Tender meat of light beige tones. Has many fans among connoisseurs of seafood delicacies.

Crimean pearl oyster - luxurious and extremely tasty, has a soft taste, both sweet and salty, meat with high fat content. Pairs very well with white wines. Has a beneficial effect on nervous system, toning it up.

Black Sea oyster - a European variety, very much in demand on the world market for its excellent taste. Needs cool temperature conditions cultivation, so it is necessary to deepen the cages in the summer.

Giant oyster – the most widespread in the world, has increased resistance to diseases. It has been grown in Crimea since the early 80s.

Oyster growing technology

Oyster farming- a semi-cyclic process for our farms. Oysters are grown from spat - young or fry of the mollusk. Due to the impossibility of natural fertilization of triploid mollusks in the natural environment, it is purchased from foreign suppliers.

But if you create a special nursery, you can master your own cultivation of spat, both for yourself and for sale.

Spat with a size of 15-20 mm is suitable for cultivation, which, after collecting and sorting in special containers, is transported to its destination, where it is grown in cages immersed in the sea. This ensures nutrition from the natural environment.

What is the further participation of humans - the care and regulation of the vital activity of shells as they grow, namely:

• algae removal;
• sorting and distribution of young growth into new cages;
• removal of rapana and its offspring;
• separation of stuck together shells.

The growth of oysters to adulthood takes at least 1.5 - 3 years. All this time they are in cages on deep sea in favorable conditions for them and with sufficient food, since they feed on phytoplankton from the water, which they suck in and filter through themselves.

When the shells reach a commercial size (at least 40 mm), the cages are transported to a coastal base, where the oysters are washed, sorted, weighed and packed into boxes.

Shelf life: 10 days in the refrigerator at high humidity to maintain fullness and freshness.

How to open an oyster farm

To start it cultivation businessoysters, it is necessary to provide three mandatory components of a full-fledged farm:

1. Sea farm.
2. Coastal base.
3. Vessel for transportation and service.

Sea farmlocated on a section of water area with necessary conditions for growing oysters:

• depth – 15-20 m;
• flat bottom surface;
• moderate course;
• protection from waves;
• absence of any sources of pollution;
• sufficient natural food supply;
• proximity to the coastal base and distance from public infrastructure;
• microbiological analysis of shellfish from this site for compliance with standards.

Based on the results of testing in the Black Sea, Kalamitsky Bay best suits the listed requirements. In addition, it has quite extensive free water areas and coastal areas, allowing it to accommodate not only small farms, but also large cultivation enterprises.oysters and mussels.

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The structure of the sea farm is simple: with the help of anchors and buoys, cages with oysters and nets with mussels are attached at a certain depth.

Coastal baselocated near a farm on the shore near the sea. It must be equipped with water and electricity. Its purpose:

• processing, storage and preparation for sale of finished products;
• assembly of sea farm units;
• ship repair;
• pool equipment for storing commercial size oysters.

Documentation

To legalize an oyster farm, you will need the following documents:

1. Registration of LLC or individual entrepreneur.
2. Trademark registration.
3. Permits for using the water area. Currently in Crimea, water areas are being distributed for marine farms, which will be purchased through an auction. Therefore, submit an application to the Crimean municipalities in advance.
4. Registration of the right to use land (ownership or lease) for equipping a coastal base.

Certification

All seafood, including oysters, do not require a certificate, but you need to fill out a declaration of conformity by providing information about the product and documents to the certification center. The list of documents is specified in the institution itself.

Oyster Farm Business Plan

First you need to decide on the production volume:

1. 10 tons per year– small farm using manual processing crops and boats with a manual winch.
2. 150-200 tons per year- average farm.
3. 1000 tons per year– a large farm, all processes are mechanized.

Let's consider the characteristics of a large marine farm on the western shore of the Kalamitsky Bay in Crimea, which, in addition to oysters, also began to grow mussels and its own young fish for its own needs and for sale to other farms:

Costs to create a farm:

Profit comes from the sale of seafood harvests:

Income items

Cost, $

Sales of oyster harvest (at $3.5 per piece) During the first 2 years, the farm does not generate income. Starting from the 3rd year, profits from the sale of mussels begin to cover current expenses. Starting from the 5th year, the planned production volumes are reached - all costs are recouped within a year, the profit covers the annual costs 10 times. Profitability - more than 900%. We see that oyster farming is indeed a very profitable business. The costs more than pay off when the planned production volume is reached, and the farm begins to generate huge profits. And at the same time, buyers themselves will come to you and line up for the delicacy. Business development prospects An oyster farm always has the opportunity to both expand and develop related industries: Mussel farming is a profitable business minimum costs, does not require the purchase of young animals, natural food supply. Breeding fry is very profitable and in demand by fisheries; for this you will need to purchase broodstock and equipment, but you will always have plenty of buyers. Your own nursery for producing oyster spat - with this you will provide yourself and other farms with the original young stock, this is especially important now, under the current sanctions and embargo. Conclusion If you are a resident of Crimea and are looking for a suitable business, pay attention to the oyster farm - you will not regret it! This will not only be extremely beneficial for you, but will also help revive this special fishery in Crimea, which is integral part import substitution program and is supported by the Government of the Russian Federation.

The development of floating devices for the industrial cultivation of marine organisms has significantly expanded the potential of mariculture in many regions of the world. Their main advantages are that, firstly, these devices can be used in areas where the seabed is unsuitable for creating conventional shellfish plantations, and, secondly, when using suspended devices it is easier to control predators. However, many countries exploit old equipment, these are mainly stationary collectors.

The European oyster is grown in Great Britain, France, Denmark, Spain, and even Norway; spat is imported from France. This type of oyster last years began to be successfully cultivated in Canada and America. In France, oyster farms are located in the tidal zone of the Brittany Peninsula. The bays and fjords in which shellfish are grown are protected from strong storms and are located in the subtidal zone. There is a high oxygen content - up to 90 percent, constant sea salinity - 31-33 ppm and slight fluctuations in water temperature are observed. The nutritional base in shallow waters, each time washed by fresh sea water, is abundant. In addition, on the recommendation of scientists, oyster farm specialists fertilize semi-closed bays, thereby increasing the food supply in the plantation area, and collect oyster spat in very strictly regulated periods. Collectors for collecting spat are ceramic semi-cylindrical slabs 30 centimeters long. The slabs are laid side by side in pairs with the concave side down and secured with wire in five to six pairs. This structure is laid out on special wooden platforms and placed in bays at a height of 17-28 centimeters from the bottom, where it is left until winter. During this time, oyster fry completely fill the collector plates.

TO winter period it is removed from the slabs and transferred to the soil of the jars, where sea oysters grow well to marketable standards.

French gourmets value European blue oysters the most. These mollusks, as noted by the famous hydrobiologist A.K. Vinogradov, were supplied to XVII-XVIII centuries for the French royal court. The diet of shellfish includes a diatom known as blue navicula. The pigment marennine passes from algae into the tissue of oysters and gives them a unique color. Currently, a technology has been developed for producing a pure pigment solution. Oysters placed in it acquire a characteristic color and taste within 10 hours. IN late XIX- At the beginning of the 20th century, oyster cultivation in France became a fairly profitable enterprise. However, in 1907 a tragic incident occurred. The farmed batch of oysters was completely sold out. Thirty-one people ate oyster shellfish, and all of them became ill and four died. It turned out that the cages with shells had been in a ditch for some time, where wastewater from a local hospital had flowed. The authorities organized a commission, and various articles appeared in newspapers calling for a complete ban on artificial oyster farming.

The situation has escalated greatly. The famous French scientist Fabre Domergue concluded that those located near Wastewater, ditches, grow well, but can become infected with pathogenic bacteria. His further research showed that infected shellfish, moved for three days to compartments with filtered flow clean water, independently cleanse themselves of harmful pathogens of life-threatening diseases. Thus, we managed to prove to everyone that sea oysters can be grown well even near unfavorable sources of waste water, but before being sold they must always be kept in special purification ponds. Cleaning has now become a mandatory step in the shellfish culture process.

In Spain, natural oyster banks have long been depleted. And the mollusk was successfully grown on rafts. They decided to cultivate the European flat oyster imported from France using the same method. Today, for the growth and feeding of mollusks, rafts are widely used, from which ropes with nylon collectors are suspended vertically. Sometimes oysters are kept in suspended nylon mesh bags, but this technique has not yet been sufficiently developed. Currently, industrial oyster farms have been built in the province of Galicia in Spain.

Since 1966 on the peninsula Nova Scotia In Canada, the technology for cultivating oysters in the bottom layer is being improved. Sea Ano here is unsuitable for these purposes. Yes, when using traditional method migration of oysters to the bottom as a result of predation, siltation and deterioration of the oxygen regime, the survival rate of resettled mollusks was only two percent. Therefore, for these purposes we decided to use Various types floating devices in the bottom layer, including floating frames, foam, aluminum-coated, plywood with fiberglass and polyurethane. The experiment was successful in areas of Pleasant Point where there once was a natural population of oysters. The most authoritative commission recognized the mollusks artificially grown on various frames as being among the best in the world in terms of taste, but what is most surprising is that this capricious and delicate animal began to be grown in Norway. Norwegian waters offer excellent conditions for cultivating shellfish: sheltered bays, bays protected from storms, unpolluted, with stable water temperatures. At first, Norwegian ichthyologists imported oyster spat from France, and then began to breed their own young, capable of surviving large temperature fluctuations. This is very important because the Norwegian fjords have high summer temperatures and low winter temperatures.

Due to the low salinity of the surface layers of water and the lack of oxygen in benthic oysters, oysters can only be cultivated in the middle layer. In this regard, the cages are suspended at such a level as to provide the mollusks sufficient quantity oxygen, food, normal temperature and salinity. However, even with this method of breeding, it takes three years for oysters to reach commercial size, so such farms require large material and labor costs. The largest oyster farm in Norway belongs to the company A/S Oyster from the city of Ålesund.

It annually supplies 200 thousand commercial oysters to the domestic market. In addition, every year 13 tons of juveniles are exported abroad. Great Britain, Denmark, Spain willingly buy this product.