CELL HARVESTING

THE DEVELOPMENT OF A BIVALVE AQUACULTURE INDUSTRY HAS BEEN HINDERED BY THE INABILITY TO PRODUCE SUFFICIENT QUANTITIES OF NUTRITIONALLY ACCEPTABLE MICROALGAE FOR THE HATCHERY AND INTERMEDIATE NURSERY PHASE OF THE OPERATION. THE RESEARCH OBJECTIVE OF THIS PROPOSAL IS TO EVALUATE THE USE OF TANGENTIAL FLOW FILTRATION FOR MICROALGAL CELL HARVESTING. IF SUCCESSFUL, ABUNDANT CULTURED ALGAE PRODUCED DURING THE SUMMER PERIOD COULD BE HARVESTED AND STORED FOR USE DURING THE WINTER WHEN FOOD LEVELS ARE USUALLY THE RATE LIMITING FACTOR IN BIVALVE SEED PRODUCTION. OUR RESEARCH WILL COMPARE THE ALGAL CELL HARVESTING CAPABILITIES OF TWO COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE FILTRATION UNITS. THE RESULTANT ALGAL SLURRIES WILL BE FROZEN AND TESTED FOR NUTRITIONAL QUALITY AFTER ONE, THREE AND FIVE MONTHS STORAGE BY FEEDING THE ALGAE TO HARD CLAM (MERCENARIA MERCENARIA) SPAT AND MONITORING CLAM GROWTH RATE OVER A TWO WEEK PERIOD. THE FEASIBILITY OF RECYCLING A PORTION OF THE ALGAE AND THE USED ALGAL MEDIA WILL BE INVESTIGATED. MICROALGAL CELL HARVESTING BY TANGENTIAL FLOW FILTRATION HAS POTENTIAL COMMERCIAL APPLICATION IN FISH AND SHRIMP AQUACULTURE, AND IN THE BIOCHEMICAL, PHARMACOLOGICAL AND BIOENGINEERING INDUSTRIES, AS WELL AS IN BIVALVE AQUACULTURE.