With the project 'Improving profitability and sustainability of oyster production through knowledge transfer and monitoring, the oyster sector is supported through knowledge development and knowledge sharing, using a combination of grower experience, monitoring and targeted experimental research with optimization and improvement of profitability of sustainable oyster production as the ultimate goal.
The oyster sector, especially in recent years, has faced several threats including the oyster herpes virus and the oyster borer. To prevent predation of oysters by the oyster borer, some of the oyster farmers are using off-bottom farming as an alternative.
The disadvantages are that off-bottom cultivation is expensive and permits are difficult to obtain, partly because there is often insufficient information regarding the effects of off-bottom cultivation on the environment. There is also a lack of factual knowledge regarding the dynamics of oyster production, failure due to disease and predation, and an overview of the possibilities for yield improvement of farming on bottom plots and off-bottom farming.
Due to the small scale of the oyster industry, there is too little capacity to understand these issues and get a handle on what is needed to improve the yield of oyster production.
Collaboration
Essential here is the formation of a new knowledge system in which oyster farmers, the Dutch Oyster Association, Wageningen Marine Research and HZ University of Applied Sciences work together to make optimal use of each other's expertise, knowledge and facilities.
The aim here is inclusiveness by making knowledge and data available. One of the products of this is through an accessible information platform.
Project
This project is made possible by financial support from the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF).
