DEVELOPMENT OF A MODEL TO SEED MUSSEL BOTTOM LEASES TO THEIRCARRYING CAPACITY.

UTILIZATION OF MUSSEL (MYTILUS EDULIS) BOTTOM LEASES TO THEIR FULL POTENTIAL HAS BEEN HINDERED BY A LACK OF INFORMATION CONCERNING THE CARRYING CAPACITY OF OPEN CULTURE SYSTEMS. DEPLETION OF NATURAL FOOD PARTICLES IN THE BENTHIC BOUNDARY LAYER ABOVE MUSSEL BEDS HAS BEEN RECENTLY IDENTIFIED AS THE MAJOR FACTOR LIMITING PRODUCTION AT LOW CURRENT SPEEDS. AT HIGHER CURRENTS, VERTICAL EDDY DIFFUSION PROVIDES FOR THE TURBULENT TRANSFER OF FOOD TO THE MUSSELS AT RATES FASTER THAN CONSUMPTION, AND THERE IS NO DEPLETION IN THE BOUNDARY LAYER. QUANTIFICATION OF EFFECTS OF MUSSEL DENSITY AND CURRENT ON DEPLETION IN THE BOUNDARY LAYER AND GROWTH (PRODUCTION) OF EXPERIMENTALLY SEEDED MUSSELS WILL RESULT IN A MATHEMATICAL MODEL PREDICTING THE CORRECT SEEDING DENSITY AND POTENTIAL YIELD FOR A GIVEN GROW-OUT AREA. HIGH TIDAL CURRENTS IN THE GULF OF MAINE - BAY OF FUNDY REGION MAY RESULT IN UNIQUE OPPORTUNITIES FOR HIGH DENSITY CULTIVATION AND HIGH PRODUCTION YIELDS. LOW CURRENT AREAS MAY BE MORE EFFECTIVELY FARMED BY ADJUSTING MUSSEL PATCH LENGTH AND DENSITY TO THE CARRYING CAPACITY OF THE LEASE SITE.