Abstract

Aquaculture is the fastest growing food production sector in the world and is quickly diversifying. In the Northwest Atlantic, interest in sea scallop (Placopecten magellanicus) (hereafter scallop) aquaculture has grown substantially. However, technical and economic challenges have hindered industry growth. We conducted bioeconomic simulations for various sized farms that targeted either live “whole” scallops or the shucked adductor muscle “meat.” The majority of farms selling whole scallops were profitable. However, all farms selling meats generated negative returns. Labor made up the greatest portion of costs in model simulations and increased linearly with farm size, representing a significant bottleneck. Whole scallop farm value was most sensitive to changes in (1) market price and (2) time to market. Our analysis suggests four strategies to increase farmed scallop production in the Northwest Atlantic: (1) mechanize low density net culture, (2) optimize net stocking densities, (3) build site selection tools, and (4) invest in consumer education, end-markets, and biotoxin testing for whole scallops. The sector will require a combination of regulatory, industry, and research cooperation to overcome these pressing challenges, but holds the potential to profitably diversify the bivalve aquaculture industry.

摘要

水产养殖业是世界上增长最快的食品生产部门，并且正在迅速多样化。在西北大西洋，人们对海扇贝 ( Placopecten magellanicus ) 感兴趣)（以下简称扇贝）水产养殖业大幅发展。然而，技术和经济方面的挑战阻碍了行业的发展。我们对各种规模的农场进行了生物经济模拟，这些农场的目标是活的“完整”扇贝或去壳的内收肌“肉”。大多数出售整扇贝的养殖场都是有利可图的。然而，所有出售肉类的农场都产生了负回报。在模型模拟中，劳动力占成本的最大部分，并且随着农场规模呈线性增长，这是一个重大瓶颈。整个扇贝养殖场的价值对 (1) 市场价格和 (2) 上市时间的变化最为敏感。我们的分析提出了四种增加西北大西洋养殖扇贝产量的策略：（1）机械化低密度网养，（2）优化净放养密度，（3）建立选址工具，(4) 投资于消费者教育、终端市场和整个扇贝的生物毒素检测。该部门将需要监管、行业和研究合作的结合来克服这些紧迫的挑战，但具有使双壳类水产养殖业实现盈利多元化的潜力。