Q: How do you get baby Pacific Oysters?
A: Oysters release eggs & sperm into the water
Females can release 100 million eggs
Larval Cycle 12 to 16 days
Larvae eat micro-algae.
At settlement they ‘glue’ themselves to a substrate.
In the hatchery we ‘trick’ them to settle without ‘gluing’ to a substrate.
They grow to around 1 mm shell length in 45 days
‘Spat’ are grown in ‘fluidisers’
Q: How do you get baby Flat Oysters?
A: Flat Oysters release sperm into the water, and female oysters release their eggs onto their own gills, they are fertilised on the gills and become larvae.
Larval Cycle 12 to 16 days, but most of this is undertaken on the gills, and the female broodstock are referred to white 'sic' or black 'sic' depending on the age of the larvae.
Larvae eat micro-algae, and with a translucent shell you can see the algae through the shell, with older oysters having more food, and thus being call black 'sic'.
At settlement they ‘glue’ themselves to a substrate.
In the hatchery we ‘trick’ them to settle without ‘gluing’ to a substrate.
They grow to around 1 mm shell length in 45 days
‘Spat’ are grown in ‘upwellers’
Q: How do you get baby Mussels?
A: Mussels release eggs & sperm into seawater.
Fertilisation of eggs is external to female.
Larval cycle last 14 to 21 days and larvae are free swimming and eat micro-algae.
Larvae Metamorphose into ‘spat’ (baby mussels).
Mussel spat attach to substrate such as rope, using byssal thread.
Mussel Spat can break the byssal thread attachment anytime and then ‘Pedal – Drift’, upto around 10mm.
Q: Can you sell spat overseas?
A: The Tasmanian Oyster Industry has been undertaking health surveillance of its Pacific Oysters in collaboration with the State Government for around twenty years, and has been able to declare them free of disease. In conjunction with strong biosecurity protocols as an island state, and within the SeaPerfect facilities, we are confident that we can meet the import requirements of overseas industries and governments to supply our healthy SeaPerfect Pacific Oysters.
We are situated within one hour from the Hobart International airport to ensure that time in transit to destinations is minimised.