Unexplained larval crashes are a problem for shellfish aquaculture. The goal of the “Bivalve Hatchery Health Consortium (BHHC): Managing Larval Mortalities in Hatcheries” is to support the growth of the bivalve shellfish industry in the USA and beyond by: (1) identifying the causes of bivalve hatchery larval mortalities and crashes through an integrated, collaborative, and proactive approach to sample collection and analysis; and (2) developing strategies and protocols to manage and minimize larval crashes in hatcheries. Members of the BHHC include pathologists, ecologists, physiologists, analytical chemists, hatchery owners, managers, and workers, and extension specialists.
This interactive workshop will focus on discussing findings from the 2024 hatchery sampling season. The BHHC coordinating team developed a sampling kit designed to collect algae, water, and larvae from spawning to post set, including both “good” (successful performance) and “bad” (lower performance or crashes) larval runs. Samples from more than 30 production runs were received from a mix of commercial and public/research hatcheries. Hatcheries provided data relevant to larval performance indicating low performance or crashes in about 30% of the production runs sampled. Results from aggregated data (to ensure hatchery confidentiality) will be presented from microbial, histological, and toxicological assays. In this workshop, we seek recommendations for improvements to the sampling protocols for the 2025 hatchery season, and look to recruit new members, including the Gulf and West Coasts as broad participation will help in addressing this critical issue of larval crashes.