Detailed Explanation of Mussel Farming Methods and Technical Key Points
AbstractFarming sea area: Choose an offshore sea area for farming, because its water quality is relatively fresh and the water flow is relatively unobstructed. Farming raft: Choose the raft used for farming Zhikong scallops. Farming equipment: Make a rope from two-strand or three-strand rubber, tie a long hanging rope to it, about 2 m, and attach a weight to it. Timely placement of farming equipment: Generally placed at the end of March each year. Managing mussels: Regular inspection is sufficient. Timely harvest: Generally can be harvested in July, with all harvesting done around the Spring Festival.
I. Farming sea area and equipment
1. Farming sea area
Generally, mussel farming should choose an offshore sea area with relatively unobstructed water flow and relatively fresh water quality, because water exchange in inner bay-type sea areas is relatively poor, water quality is more easily polluted, and feed is relatively lacking. Therefore, mussels farmed here are not very high in plumpness and also have odors such as diesel.
2. Farming raft
It is actually the raft used for farming Zhikong scallops. Generally, the length of the raft is about 80 m. Hanging floats can be used, and the float line is about 3 m long. About 30-40 floats can be added at one time.
3. Farming equipment
A two-strand or three-strand rope made of rubber, about 1.5-1.8 m long, weighing about 1-1.5 kg, then a hanging rope about 2 m long is tied to it, and a stone weighing about 0.5 kg is attached as a weight.
II. Timely placement of farming equipment
Generally, farming equipment begins to be placed at the end of March each year. Check the plumpness of the mussels every day. If the mussels suddenly become thin and spawn in large numbers, place farming equipment in a timely manner according to the specific farming area so that they can naturally collect seedlings.
III. Managing mussels
Mussel farming management is relatively simple. Regularly inspect the sea area to prevent broken rafts and tangled rafts, and be sure to adjust buoyancy in a timely manner.
IV. Timely harvest
1. Harvest in a timely manner according to the density and area of seedling collection. Generally, in July, when mussels grow to 1-1.5 cm, they can be harvested. They can be sold to shrimp pond farmers as feed, or sold to farmers as seedlings.
2. During harvest, all mussels attached to the rubber must be stripped off, then mussel clusters with better attachment are selected and clamped onto the rubber, each cluster about 0.2-0.3 kg, and on average about 5-6 clusters can be clamped.
3. If the mussels do not form clusters, the seedling-wrapping method can be used. First wrap 1-1.5 kg of small seedlings on the rubber with netting, then fix it with rope, and remove the netting after about 3 days.
4. The seedling-clamping method for mussel farming is relatively simple, and the seedling-preserving method is more troublesome, but mussels farmed by the seedling-preserving method attach and grow better than by the seedling-clamping method.
5. Generally, only about 5% of the mussels are left to continue growing. Most of the mussels attached to the hanging ropes, root heads, floats, and float lines are harvested in stages. One cage rack can harvest more than 1200 kg.
6. Generally, all harvesting is carried out around the Spring Festival. Each raft after re-clamping seedlings can produce more than 2800 kg.