Scallop culture is conducted worldwide, nonfeeding and depending on the natural phytoplankton production for the diet. It is necessary for sustainable culture of this species to understand how the phytoplankton production and subsequent vertical transport to the bottom (export production) are regulated by environmental factors. A 3-year time series monitoring of chlorophyll and temperature, as well as sinking particle flux, was conducted to elucidate the relationship between surface primary production, the subsequent export, and the growth of benthic cultured scallops in spring in the coastal region of the Okhotsk Sea along Hokkaido, Japan. Five times larger export fluxes were observed in 2013 than those in other years. Coscinodiscus spp., diameter >200 μm, was the quantitatively dominant phytoplankton in 2013. This species contributed to the high export flux due to a higher settling velocity. The sudden drops in temperature by >2°C were observed during the study period. These indicated that the supply of nutrients from Intermediate Cold Water (ICW), a cold and nutrients rich water mass, accelerated the primary productivity in this area. This intensity was strongest in 2013, contributing to the high export flux. The large export flux in 2013 provided a more sufficient food to the benthic cultured scallops, resulting in a two times higher growth of the scallops than in other years. This study demonstrated that the size of the dominant diatom species and the supply from ICW strongly influenced the export ratio and the growth of cultured scallops.

中文翻译：

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北海道鄂霍次克海沿岸地区初级生产力、出口生产和底栖扇贝生长之间的紧密耦合

扇贝养殖在世界范围内进行，不喂食，依赖于天然浮游植物的生产。对于该物种的可持续养殖，有必要了解浮游植物的生产和随后的垂直运输到底部（出口生产）如何受环境因素的调节。对叶绿素和温度以及下沉粒子通量进行了为期 3 年的时间序列监测，以阐明鄂霍次克沿海地区地表初级生产、随后的出口和春季底栖养殖扇贝生长之间的关系沿北海道，日本的海。2013 年的出口流量是其他年份的五倍。鳐鱼spp.，直径 >200 μm，是 2013 年数量上占主导地位的浮游植物。由于较高的沉降速度，该物种有助于高出口通量。在研究期间观察到温度突然下降> 2°C。这些表明，中冷水（ICW）是一种寒冷且营养丰富的水体，其养分供应加速了该地区的初级生产力。这种强度在 2013 年最为强劲，导致了高出口流量。2013年出口量大，为底栖养殖扇贝提供了更充足的食物，扇贝的生长速度是往年的两倍。本研究表明，主要硅藻种类的大小和 ICW 的供应量强烈影响出口比例和养殖扇贝的生长。