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Scallop Aquaculture and Fisheries in Venezuela

Abstract:

This chapter discusses the biology, fishery and aquaculture of scallops in Venezuela. The Venezuelan coast, in the southwestern Caribbean Sea, is a tropical region that supports a high diversity of bivalve molluscs, including 10 species of scallops. Nodipecten nodosus and Euvola ziczac are exploited along the coast for local consumption but are not abundant enough to support a commercial fishery. Industrial trawling was used to exploit Amusium papyraceum, Amusium laurenti and to a lesser extent Argopecten nucleus, until 2009, when this type of fishing was banned. Amusium papyraceum forms large beds in Venezuela and landings reached almost 1900 t per year in 1989. The large size of the adductor muscle of Euvola ziczac and Nodipecten nodosus suggests that these species should be good candidates for aquaculture and a number of studies have evaluated their growth and survival in suspended and bottom culture. Argopecten nucleus is a medium-sized scallop, up to 50-55 mm in shell height, and is also a good species for aquaculture; however, few studies have been conducted to establish techniques for its culture. For E. ziczac and N. nodosus, the low numbers of juveniles in natural beds and the small number of spat recruiting on suspended structures indicate that commercial culture would require spat production in a hatchery, and techniques for their production have been developed. Sufficient spat of Argopecten nucleus can be obtained from suspended collectors to support small-scale production, but a hatchery would be needed to support production on a commercial level. Hatchery and aquaculture techniques developed for scallops in Venezuela would likely be applicable to other areas in the Caribbean Sea. © 2016 Elsevier B.V.