Seed production and farming of Indian pearl oyster Pinctada fucata- Winter School on Recent Advances in Breeding and Larviculture of Marine Finfish and Shellfish

摘要

Indian pearl oyster belonging to the Genus Pinctada occurs in the two Gulf zones of India ie., Gulf of Kutch inudGujarat and Gulf of Mannar in Tamil Nadu. Commercial fishery existed in GoM till 1961 and then has gone into auddormant period due to many reasons including insignificant natural settlement of spat in the pearl beds (‘paars’) of Gulfudof Mannar. To sustain a pearl culture industry, a steady supply of pearl oyster seed and farming it to mother oysters isuda pre requisite. Large scale collection of pearl oyster spats either by using spat collectors or from their natural bedsudwas not always found dependable owing to the irregular spat fall. Hence, hatchery production of pearl oyster seedudand mother oyster culture has become an essential aspect as far as pearl culture is concerned. The following accountuddetails the basic hatchery requirement, broodstock maintenance and spawning and hatchery production of spats ofudPinctada fucata and the methods of farming the spats for mother oyster development.