RFT for the provision of spatting ponds to produce two separate populations of Ostrea edulis spat

Description

Request for Tender for the provision of spatting ponds to produce two separate populations of Ostrea edulis spat which will be tracked for bonamia infection levels over the growout period. Spatting ponds present a viable method of providing seed for restocking oyster beds and for rearing oysters under aquaculture conditions that maintains the genetic diversity of the oyster population. Spat settled on cultch in ponds can be tracked for growth, survival and disease resistance when deployed into specific nursery sites and subsequently relaid onto discrete areas of seabed which can be easily accessed. In this way it may be possible to select bonamia resistant or resilient oysters for stocking Broodstock areas within a fishery. BIM requires two commercial spatting ponds for the duration of the contract for the purpose of stocking large conditioned Broodstock from 2 Irish bays impacted by Bonamia. Broodstock will be screened for bonamia prevalence in advance of being stocked in the pond and the settled spat will also be screened in advance of being transferred to aquaculture nursery sites. Growth, survival and disease resistance will be assessed in these populations over the next 3 to 4 years.