ENRICHMENT OF A BRACKISH WATER POND FOR SHELLFISH CULTURE

A MAJOR CONSTRAINT UPON THE CULTURE OF EDIBLE MARINE ORGAN- ISMS ON A COMMERCIAL SCALE IN MOST COASTAL STATES IS THE LACK OF AVAILABILITY OF SUITABLE CULTURE AREAS. MANY ECOLOGICALLY FAVORABLE AREAS OF THE COASTLINE ARE CLOSED TO AQUA CULTURE AS A RESULT OF ZONING RESTRICTIONS, LOCAL ORDINANCESAND SOCIAL RESISTANCE. AS A RESULT, THE ONLY RECOURSE FOR MANY AQUACULTURE ENTERPRISES MAY BE TO DEVELOP HIGHLY INTENSIVE CULTURE TECHNIQUES IN AREAS OF LIM-ITED SIZE. OCEAN POND CORPORATION HAS INITIATED EXPERIMENTSON THE ENRICHMENT OF A BRACKISH WATER POND FOR THE PURPOSE OF INCREASING THE YIELD OF AMERICAN OYSTERS (CRASSOSTREA VIRGINICA). SMALL-SCALE EXPERIMENTS HAVE INDICATED THAT THESTANDING CROP OF PHYTOPLANKTON-THE PRIMARY SOURCE OF OYSTER NUTRITION-IN THE SURFACE LAYERS OF THE POND MAY BE INCREASEDBY TWO ORDERS OF MAGNITUDE WHEN ENRICHED WITH BOTTOM WATER. IT IS BELIEVED THAT INSTALLATION OF AN ARTIFICIAL UPWELLING SYSTEM MAY INCREASE THE PRIMARY PRODUCTIVITY OF A LARGE AREA OF THE POND, WITH SIGNIFICANT BENEFIT IN TERMS OF OY- STER GROWTH RATES, ANNUAL YIELDS, AND PERHAPS THE ABILITY OFINTRODUCING ADDITIONAL SPECIES INTO THE CULTURE SYSTEM.