Putting the spotlight on spat

Since May, the Shellfish Biological and Environmental Monitoring study has been looking at mussel spat recruitment and settlement patterns at four different farmed mussel sites in Shetland. Dr Richard Shelmerdine, who is leading the research, told Shetland Marine: "Through regular monitoring, the industry stands to benefit greatly from increased success in site selection, deployment of spat collectors and ultimately, increased mussel production." Kenny Pottinger, of East Voe Shellfish, whose company is participating in the research, said: "Up until now spat settlement has been left to chance - we put ropes in the water and wait for settlement to naturally occur. "Given that spat settlement is the most important aspect of mussel farming, understanding the science behind it is extremely important." The second project, Enhancing Production Supply for the Shetland Mussel Industry, led by Sara Saravanan, is trying to establish whether hatchery produced spatted ropes can bridge the gaps in natural spatfall.