Hello!
Today we will talk about the artificial breeding of mussels and oysters. The meat of these
sea molluscs is highly valued all over the world, as it has a high nutritional and therapeutic
and prophylactic value. No wonder the use of mussels and oysters has been practiced
for more than one hundred years. Even Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin was a great lover of oysters,
and often mentioned them in his works.
Today the demand for mussels and oysters exceeds the market supply. Fresh oysters are always
welcome in restaurants and cafes. Therefore, more and more people are starting a business
to grow and sell mussels and oysters.
France is the undisputed leader in the production of oysters and mussels in Europe. The French
poet Léon-Paul Fargue once wrote: "Oysters are the kiss of the sea on the lips." Oysters,
as well as mussels and snails, have become firmly established in French cuisine. Until
the 19th century, oysters remained the most popular food available to all segments of
the population. In wealthy houses, they prepared a variety of dishes: baked in pies, stuffed
a bird with them, or simply ate dozens of them, not counting. For the poor, oysters
were substituted for meat. The cultivation of shellfish in the country
is carried out under the auspices of the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries. The institution
has many responsibilities, ranging from preserving the natural habitat of oysters to quality
control and maintaining high hygiene standards in production.
In France, any owner of an oyster farm must complete a special two-year training program.
The state trains future businessmen not only in the cultivation of shellfish, but also
in the basics of ecology and economics. Needless to say, this approach makes French oysters
one of the highest quality in the world! Before talking about how molluscs are grown,
a few words should be said about how these mollusks differ from each other - oysters
and mussels. Although they belong to the same class, they are completely different in appearance
and taste. Mussels are smaller than oysters. They are
unpretentious to their habitat and can move along the bottom. Oysters are much larger
than mussels, about 2-3 times. They are sedentary and are not able to "walk", that is, move
along the bottom. Also, these mollusks differ in appearance: mussels have a smooth shell
with sharp edges, oysters are rough to the touch with wavy shells.
Finally, the main difference, for the sake of which such a business is being started,
is that mussels should never be eaten raw, and oysters, on the contrary, are most often
served raw.
Although mussels are a delicacy shellfish, their cost is much less than that of oysters.
This is because mussels are much easier to breed. They literally breed in the wild with
minimal investment - several thousand shellfish settle per square meter.
The popularity of mussels is primarily due to the fact that, unlike pets, which need
a long, satisfying and expensive feed with high-calorie compound feeds, mussels do not
need to be fed. In the same way as buying fry. In fact, it is "washed" by the sea.
It is enough during the spawning period to lower a special whip or dredge to the bottom,
so that in 2-3 years - from July to January - to get it covered with mollusks. On average,
up to 80 kilograms of mussels stick to one lash.
Mussels are demanding on the environment. Mussels will not grow and reproduce in polluted
water. Before cultivation, it is necessary to experimentally check the desired area of
the sea for the concentration of food for mussels. Conventionally, all enterprises involved
in the cultivation of mussels can be divided into 2 types. The first, where mussel breeding
begins with the collection of larvae or spat in the sea. Second, these are farms where
a full rearing cycle is performed, including self-hatching of larvae.
In the first case, the farm is engaged in breeding mussels in waters favorable to it.
As a rule, this territory is already inhabited by a fairly large number of mussel colony.
In essence, the technology offers collector surfaces for the larvae, where they can settle
and gain a foothold. These collectors, which are a kind of structure suspended under water
from nylon ropes, floats and weights, in fact, represent a complete imitation of the growth
of mussels in natural conditions. After growing mussels, they are then transplanted into sleeves
for further growing. Farms that grow mussels in the second way,
namely on the surface of the soil, face much more difficulties. Mussels can be eaten by
rapa or bottom fish, damaged by parasitic microorganisms. In addition, the ingress of
sand spoils the quality of the mussel meat. There is also a more labor-intensive, but
faster way. In early spring, mussel larvae are harvested, reaching the size of a bean.
They are placed in rough, semi-rotten canvas bags and hung over a lash. In a couple of
months, the bags rot, and the mussels settle on the whip on their own. During the period
of their growth, you can change the location of the whip, gradually moving them closer
to the shore. By the final ripening period, the lash with mussels is placed so that at
low tide it completely protrudes from the water. You don't have to worry about the mussels,
the supply of salt water located inside the shell is enough for the mollusk for 1-2 days.
This is necessary in order for the mussels to grow faster and acquire the best taste.
This is primarily due to the salinity of water and its lack. It has been noticed that if
the mollusk is left without water from time to time, it tries to increase in size so that
the water reserves inside the shell are as large as possible. Thus, mussels can be grown
in a year. In France, mussels are grown both on the Atlantic
and Mediterranean coasts. Here, the method of industrial breeding of mussels is called
busho. Currently, the molluscs grown in this way have received the status of a Traditional
Production Guarantee from the European Commission. The so-called stakes are driven into the seabed
in the ebb and flow zone - poles, most often oak or chestnut, 15 to 30 centimeters thick
and three to five to six meters long. The ropes plunge into the sea, waiting for the
larvae to settle on them. Then the ropes are attached to wooden posts, which are arranged
in horizontal lines. In April-May, mussel larvae settle on stakes far from the coast
in special mesh collectors, which grow sufficiently by June. From June to September, these juveniles
are collected in mesh bags, which are hung on stretchers between poles closer to the
coast. Busho mussels have tender and aromatic meats of bright orange color.
In spring and autumn, during the breeding season, the whole sea is teeming with microscopic
mollusk larvae looking for a place of settlement or anchoring, which leads them to artificial
collectors. Food for itself, namely, zooplankton and algae, - the mollusk independently takes
from the sea, filtering the water. Mussels are extremely prolific. One adult
shell spawns more than 10 thousand eggs per season. For 14 months, the mussel grows in
size up to 7-8 cm, and becomes a marketable seafood. During this time, it remains only
to monitor the development of mussels, drive off poachers, and after a year harvest.
As for oysters, they are grown along the entire coastline of France. There are about 3000
oyster farms. The most famous areas are both banks of the English Channel, Brittany, Normandy,
Kent and Essex, Arcachon, as well as the Mediterranean coast of the country.
The province of Brittany in northern France has the best climate for growing oysters.
It is the region's stable, temperate climate that enables oysters to grow and absorb all
the forces of water for the best taste. There is no sweltering heat here, but there is no
frost either. This climate is very favorable for oysters. The fact is that a temperature
jump of even 10 degrees can kill an oyster.
Oysters grow very slowly to full adulthood, from three to five years. But, for their breeding,
it is not necessary to buy "seedlings" and feed them. Oyster fry brings the sea, they
grow in their natural environment. All it takes is not a tricky set of tools, seaside,
and patience. Thus, farmers cannot artificially influence the growth of oysters, they can
only help them grow in natural conditions and acquire a taste.
In France, two types of oysters are grown, flat and round. Further, each type is divided
into categories, of which today there are more than 50. Categories depend on the place
and duration of refining. Also, the size of oysters has its own measurement scale.
Oyster farmers rent marine hectares from the state in the same way that farmers rent land
for agricultural work. The entire bay is divided into plots owned by different farms. The plan
of
the bay is one of the main documents of the oyster economy, since it is necessary to strictly
observe the water boundaries with the neighbors.
The entire oyster growing cycle is divided into several stages. In the first stage, oyster
caviar or juvenile oysters are harvested by hand from the wild.
The oyster is hermaphrodite, so it reproduces without, so to speak, outside interference.
The best time is summer. Hence the belief that oysters are not eaten in summer. Juveniles
are born inside the shell, about five in one. And after 3-5 days the fry come out. At this
time, they need to gain a foothold somewhere, usually stones or special collectors at a
depth. It is at this stage that they are harvested by hand for further cultivation on farms.
But the problem is that in the first year, due to various reasons and circumstances,
35% of fry die, this is the so-called natural selection. Then, an average of 10% die annually.
That is, during the growing period, a total of about 70-80% of the original amount perishes.
That is why not every farm can afford to work with fry. Baby oysters are placed in special
nets and placed on the so-called tables on the shore of the bay.
Daily ocean ebb and flow is good for the overall growth of oysters. It should be noted that
the tide schedule is another important document for the farm. All work must be done at low
tide. Oysters, like people, grow in different ways: some are fast, some are slow, some are
thin, others are well-fed. And it is simply impossible to artificially influence the uniformity
of growth. The nets with oysters are turned over, tapped
with a stick, stirring them, about once every two weeks. Thus, the shape of the shell and
the meat inside take on a more regular shape. Otherwise, the shell will be long and narrow,
and the mollusk itself will not be so fleshy. The whole process takes about a year.
After a year, the shellfish are lowered to the bottom of the bay for another two years
- for further growth, this is the second stage of production. And at this stage there are
also risks, it is a storm or sea predators (seagulls, starfish, snails, crabs and some
types of fish). All this time, oysters feed on plankton brought by the sea.
After three years, the next stage begins. Oysters are hand-picked and selected ready
for refining, aging in clears, such natural reservoirs with fresh water. In the process
of refining, the taste of the oyster softens, becomes deeper, and excess salt leaves. Therefore,
the refining takes place in fresh water, usually in a river. Its duration is from three months
to twelve. Before transportation, batches of delicacies
are carefully packed in boxes so that they do not lose moisture and do not die on the
way. The rest are returned to the bay. To get the
oysters, special cars leave, which seethe water with nets, and the so-called "water
vacuum cleaner" pulls the oysters onto the launch. Previously, this was done entirely
by humans and took much longer. A shop for sorting and packing mollusks is
located on the river bank, this allows you to shorten the delivery time, respectively,
to preserve freshness as much as possible. The oysters removed from the water are fed
onto a conveyor belt. Each oyster is tapped by hand to determine the density of the meat
inside the shell. If the worker has doubts, the oyster is placed on the second belt, which
returns them back to the river to continue refining.
Some of the oysters that are to be preserved are cut open by workers at the enterprise
with special knives. In fact, this is a very monotonous and tedious job. Therefore, it
is not difficult to understand why such a high price for oysters, given the investment
in their cultivation and processing. Oysters are packed in wooden boxes of various
sizes, but the quantity is always a multiple of 12. Moreover, they are packed in a certain
way so that the oyster retains moisture. After all, with a loss of 20% of water, the mollusk
will die on the road. The shipping process for oysters is daily
and never interrupted. The oyster farm is open seven days a week. But during the Christmas
season, the number of workers doubles or even triples, as it is high consumption season
in France. After all, it is oysters that are a traditional Christmas dish for the French.