With this project, the Stichting Zeeschelp, Meromar Zeeland and HZ University of Applied Sciences aim to develop a total concept as a blueprint for sustainable plot-based farming of carpet shells and venus clams.
To this end, the project partners will carry out all necessary research and development work to make sustainable parcel-bound carpet and venus shell farming commercially feasible in the Netherlands in the short term. Research and development work will cover all the different phases of the breeding, harvesting and processing process; from the conditioning of parental animals to the harvesting and processing of parcel-bound carpet and venus clams.
The blueprint for small-scale and sustainable farming of carpet and venus clams will consist, on the one hand, of the necessary knowledge on the optimal farming of the clams and, on the other hand, of various developments for the purpose of farming, harvesting, and processing.
Conditioning
Work covers the entire process from breeding to sale of carpet and venus clams and includes conditioning and spawning adult clams, testing favourable breeding conditions for larvae and hatchlings, monitoring further growth to testing sorting and packaging of the clams.
The findings will be announced after the end of the project, expected in December 2024, and will be published on the HZ University of Applied Sciences website, among others. Here, the results will remain findable for at least five years after the end of the project. Also, the findings of this project are available free of charge on request to all companies active in the sector or subsector concerned.
The project was co-funded by Sustainable Fisheries and Aquaculture Grant Scheme (SDVA).
