62 DECEMBER 2023 • WORLD AQUACULTURE • WWW.WAS.ORG most abundant species was the Amber pen shell (Pinna carnea) (Figure 4) which comprised 93.7% of the organisms, followed by the Atlantic pearl oyster (Pinctada imbricata) (Figure 5) with 5.3%, and the zigzag scallop (Euvola ziczac) (Figure 6) with 1.0%. The first line deployed had a total of 212 organisms, and the second and third lines had 128 and 135 organisms, respectively. The seed collectors deployed at 5 m had a total of 132 organisms, while those at 10 m and 15 m had 253 and 90 molluscs, respectively. Although the zigzag scallop was found in very low numbers, this initial pilot study confirms the presence of wild scallops in the USVI. In this particular case, collection of mollusk seed was higher at 10 m depth. It is recommended that in order to determine optimal areas and time for spat collection in this part of the Caribbean, an increase in the number of locations for setting seed collectors would be needed, as well as a year-round temporal sampling regime. However, any effort for culturing sea scallops may require monthly water temperature data from various depths to get an idea of the depth range needed to obtain more optimal water temperatures to culture this species. Establishing a regional shellfish hatchery that may support the culture of native/endemic species has been signaled as a priority for more than a decade (Lovatelli and Sarkis 2011, Creswell et al. 2014), and could be a strategy to integrate mariculture into the Caribbean islands’ economy. This could in turn help generate employment, revenue, and exports by utilizing the resources provided by the environment, as well as improve communities’ resiliency. Acknowledgments This scientific endeavor was made possible through the support of the University of the Virgin Islands’ Research Initiative for Scientific Enhancement (RISE) Program and the Emerging Caribbean Scientists’ Summer Undergraduate Research Program (ECS SURE), funded by the NSF HBCU-UP ACE grant #1623126. Notes Destinee Turnbull*, College of Science and Mathematics, University of the Virgin Islands, St. Thomas, USVI 008029990, Gerson Martinez, Syotos Fishing, St. Croix, USVI and Herbert Quintero-Fonseca, Assistant Professor of Aquaculture, University of the Virgin Islands School of Agriculture, Kingshill, St. Croix, USVI 00850-9781. * Corresponding author: destinee.turnbull@students.uvi.edu References Creswell, L., S. Sarkis and A. Lovatelli. 2014. Developing a Regional shellfish hatchery for the wider Caribbean: assessing its feasibility and sustainability. In: Proceedings of the Sixtyseventh annual Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute. 363-365 pp. Dones-Ortiz, C., M. Davis and R. Espinoza. 2022. Understanding how to operate a conch nursery recirculating aquaculture system in Puerto Rico. World Aquaculture Magazine 53(2):34-41. Freites, L. and M. Núñez. 2001. Cultivo suspendido de Lyropecten (Nodipecten) nodosus (L., 1758) mediante los métodos de bolsa y aurícula ‘ear hanging.’ Bol. Inst. Oceanogr. 4: 21−29. Jory, D.E. and E.S. Iversen. 1985. Molluscan mariculture in the greater Caribbean: an overview. Marine Fisheries Review 47(4):1-10. Lovatelli, A. and S. Sarkis. 2011. A regional shellfish hatchery for the Wider Caribbean: assessing its feasibility and sustainability. TABLE 1. Number of mollusc spat per species collected in three different sites in the island of St. Croix, at three depths (5 m, 10 m, and 15 m). Amber pen shell Atlantic pearl oyster Zigzag scallop (Pinna carnea) (Pinctada imbricata) (Euvola ziczac) Site Total Collector coordinates depth (m) depth (m) A B A B A B N 17o45.684 26.0 5 - 39 - 2 - 1 W 64o31.996 10 44 54 1 1 1 1 15 33 32 3 - - - N 17o45.851 26.2 5 36 1 - - - - W 64o32.061 10 56 18 1 2 1 - 15 - 9 4 - - - N 17o46.027 27.0 5 30 19 2 1 1 - W 64o32.096 10 36 29 6 2 - - 15 - 9 - - - - Sub-total 235 210 17 8 3 2 Total 445 25 5
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