Relationship between mussel attachment strength to socks and passive losses caused by fall-off

Description

Various studies have been conducted on mussel attachment strength in intertidal environments from an ecological perspective. These studies examined primarily the factors that can dislodge individual mussels attached to a rocky substrate in an intertidal zone. In this simple study model, the forces at work to detach the mussel act by pulling the mussel upward. This is quite different from the situation with cultured mussels, which are attached to each other and because they are placed in suspension in the water column, require horizontal forces to dislodge them. The ecological studies are useful for identifying the probable impact of certain factors, but the results cannot be directly applied to suspension culture conditions.

The primary objective of this project is to determine the relationship between passive losses caused by fall-off and mussel attachment strength to socks in order to quantify losses for mussel growers and to understand the underlying biological mechanisms.

Program Name

Aquaculture Collaborative Research and Development Program (ACRDP)

Year(s)

2005 - 2006

Ecoregion(s)

Atlantic: Gulf of St. Lawrence, St. Lawrence Estuary

Principal Investigator(s)

Jean-Marie Sévigny
Email: Jean-marie.Sevigny@dfo-mpo.gc.ca