Lobster Hatchery
Shellfish Hatchery Systems Ltd.
Crustacea Hatchery System Provides
Shellfish Hatchery Systems Ltd is a spin-off from Northbay Shellfish Ltd - a company set up in 1995 specialising in innovation in the shellfish sector in the fields of hatchery design, operation and build. It is a leader in research and development in the European arena, leading work in areas such as marine biotoxins, shellfish diseases, carrying capacities, development of new species for aquaculture, development of hatchery techniques for a range of species, development of new materials, and design for aquaculture holding systems.
Shellfish Hatchery Systems Ltd is a company which specialises in providing turnkey solutions for customers who wish to develop commercial crustacea - as support to the natural fishery or through ranching or full aquaculture. The first systems have been proven for Lobster (Homarus gammarus) and systems are under development for Spiny Lobster (Palinuridae) and Lagoustine (Nephrops).
The Directors of the company are both innovators and have, between them, more than 20 years of experience in developing systems for production of young lobsters. The system at the Orkney Lobster Hatchery has seen over 250,000 juveniles produced over the last 3 seasons.
The Innovations.
The Aquahive developed by Richard Land and Dennis Gowland has revolutionised the production of lobsters from larvae to juvenile. The new system has been shown in commercial trials, at 2 hatcheries, to out-perform traditional mono-layer tray-based systems by a factor of 40 on a per square metre basis.
This has led to the feasibility of producing in a small area what was previously possible only in a large built area. Shellfish Hatchery Systems Ltd has now made possible a reduction in both the capital expenditure and running costs of hatcheries. More reliable and easier means of producing consistent numbers of high quality juveniles have meant that scientific training is no longer a necessity for personnel running a lobster hatchery.
Hatchery in a Box
The new concept of Hatchery-in-a-Box encompasses all the new developments brought about by the founders of Shellfish Hatchery Systems Ltd and offers a turnkey solution to groups or even individuals who wish to develop their local lobster fisheries. These self-contained modules can be placed in quaysides or in shore-side positions next to a clean source of seawater and offer an expected production level of 65,000 stage 6+ juveniles from a 20ft container and up to 200,000 from a 40ft container. Capital pay-back would, typically, be achieved in 2 seasons or less. Reductions in running costs, compared to a conventional 'brick-built' hatchery should be in the order of 50 -75%.
