Coho Fry

Larval Rearing and Invertebrate Culture (FISH 222)

This course provides an overview of the invertebrate aquaculture industry in British Columbia and where relevant, in other countries. We explore the basic structure of the industry, technology used to rear invertebrates including seed production, nursery, grow-out systems, oceanographic considerations of site suitability for aquaculture, environmental interactions, economics and social considerations. We focus much of our attention on the culture of bivalve molluscs because these species form the base of today's industry. In some respects this is a course in applied sciences, the sciences being numerous: general biology, invertebrate biology, biochemistry, biological and physical oceanography, algology and many others. We use theory from these many sciences and apply them to the activity of farming marine invertebrates. Throughout the semester we spawn and rear Mediterranean mussels and green sea urchins, bring in professionals from the industry to give advice, as well as tour local facilities.