Mortality in your oyster seed affects your bottom line as well as your plans for the future. Read our 7 essential tips for how to you can achieve really successful oyster seed growth!

1. Choose between triploid or diploid.

While triploids may seem more attractive as they allow for sales right through the summer and are the preferred option for speciales there is evidence to suggest that diploids are more robust against mortality. Or why not choose a combination of both triploids and diploids? Make sure the batches are clearly identified and kept separately so that you can assess for yourself what works better on your site.

2. Ask specifically for seed raised in the nursery or from the parc (sea).

Once spat goes over G6 they are generally moved out to the sea beds to ‘harden up’. This move gives the seed a chance to become more resistant before being sold on.

3. Did you know you can specifically request the “tail of the batch”?

These oysters will grow slower but can be better suited for sites producing speciales, resulting in oysters with higher meat content.

4. Make sure the delay between coming out of the hatchery and being put back into the water is as short as possible.

If you’re under pressure for time, you might consider bagging first roughly 4kg / bag and then coming back to split them to the right density later. (eg roughly 1000 / 4mm bag for G6).

5. Buy your seed in at the right time of year.

The best times to buy in being February / March, or October.

6. Decide where on site to place the seed.

Place your seed low on the shore if you want faster growth and higher up if you want a slower growth rate thus limiting mortality as much as possible.

7. Turn the bags frequently to achieve a good shape.

Use Casier bags or add a YAD black booster to your standard bag to increase the flow of water and space in bag, thus achieving a better shape.

If you’re thinking of getting in oyster seed give us a call. We work with a number of different hatcheries to suit all sites, and we will look after all the paperwork and transport too!