A Detailed Explanation of Abalone Farming Conditions and Farming Methods
In recent years, abalone, as an important member of the “Eight Sea Treasures,” has been highly favored by consumers because of its relatively high nutritional value and refined cooking methods. When entertaining distinguished guests or giving gifts to relatives and friends, abalone is regarded as a symbol of prestige and wealth. With the continuous expansion of the consumer market, abalone farming has entered a golden period. Below, let us take a look at the farming conditions and farming methods for abalone!
Abalone Farming Conditions
1. Abundant seaweed growth and rich feed.
2. Sea areas with clear, flowing water and stable seawater specific gravity, maintained at 1.020 or above throughout the year.
3. Substrate consisting of rock reefs and stones.
4. Sea areas with no industrial pollution, few harmful organisms, no freezing in winter, and no drifting ice in spring are preferable.
Abalone Reproduction Method
Abalone is dioecious, but it does not mate. When the breeding season arrives, after the gonads of the male and female mature, they respectively release sperm and eggs into the seawater outside the body. The eggs encounter sperm in the seawater and can then be fertilized and develop. This reproductive method is very similar to that of bivalves.
Breeding generally occurs in summer and autumn. After fertilization, the eggs pass through the planktonic trochophore and veliger larval stages, then sink to the seabed and metamorphose into juvenile abalone. Abalone grows relatively slowly. After one year, the shell can generally reach 2—3 cm; after two years, the larger ones can reach 4—5 cm. Abalone with a shell length of more than 10 cm takes about six or seven years to grow.
Abalone Farming Methods
1. Offshore raft-style farming: The best farming device is a multi-layer abalone farming cage. A multi-layer abalone farming cage has a diameter of 45-50 cm and a height of 100-200 cm. 4-10 plastic trays are connected into one unit by iron rods and plastic sleeves, with a layer spacing of 20-30 cm, and the outside is wrapped with zippered netting. Feeding, management, and replacement of the netting are all very convenient. The feed is mainly seaweed such as kelp.
2. Seabed submerged box-style farming: The farming equipment is a large 2 m × 2 m × 0.8 m steel-framed net cage, which is sunk to the seabed for farming. Some also use cement troughs with openings on the upper side and both ends, with several staggered horizontal partition plates in the middle, and zippered netting over the openings, sunk to the seabed for farming. The feed is mainly seaweed such as kelp. With this farming method, the habitat environment for abalone is more stable than in raft-style farming, and the growth results are also good, but feeding and management are relatively more difficult.
3. Seaside enclosed pond-style farming: In suitable locations in the intertidal zone, build ponds with enclosing dikes, place stones, cement boards, tiles, and other materials in the ponds as attachment and hiding structures for abalone, and leave several water openings in the upper part of the pond wall on the seaward side as exchange channels between the pond water and the open sea during rising and falling tides. After the tide falls, the seawater in the pond should be kept at a depth of about 1 m. The feed is mainly seaweed.
4. Onshore artificial farming
① Multi-layer trough farming: Use multi-layer long shallow troughs, used in combination with supporting equipment such as mesh screens and attachment plates. The troughs are 0.5-0.7 m wide, 0.3-0.4 m deep, and generally 1-10 m long, with a layer spacing of about 0.5 m. Some use seaweed as the main feed, while others use compound feed as the main feed. The farming density is 200-400 abalone per sq m for 3-5 cm abalone, and 100-150 abalone per sq m for abalone larger than 6 cm.
② Farming in plastic boxes inside ponds: The farming pond is a cement pond with an area of 20-40 sq m and a depth of 1-1.2 m. The plastic box is a special abalone farming box 39 cm long, 30 cm wide, and 12 cm high. Every 5-7 boxes are stacked vertically into one stack and tied together. Each bundle is placed upright in the pond and arranged in rows, with operation walkways left between rows. The daily water supply is no less than 3-6 times the volume of the cultivation water body, with continuous aeration for 24 hours. The feed is fresh kelp or dried kelp.