Aquaculture 2025

March 6 - 10, 2025

New Orleans, Louisiana USA

Add To Calendar 10/03/2025 10:30:0010/03/2025 10:50:00America/ChicagoAquaculture 2025OYSTERS, THEIR HATCHERY AND CLIMATE CHANGE IN CHINA AND SOUTHEAST ASIA: CHALLENGES, OPPORTUNITIES AND THE WAY FORWARDBalcony JThe World Aquaculture Societyjohnc@was.orgfalseDD/MM/YYYYanrl65yqlzh3g1q0dme13067

OYSTERS, THEIR HATCHERY AND CLIMATE CHANGE IN CHINA AND SOUTHEAST ASIA: CHALLENGES, OPPORTUNITIES AND THE WAY FORWARD

Vengatesen Thiyagarajan1*, Ziniu Yu2, Shu Xiao2, Guofan Zhang3, Li Li3, Weiwei You4, Xiaotong Wang5, Lingling Wang6, Linsheng Song6, Clarence Chung7, Tan Shau Hwai8, San Van Vu9, Ximing Guo10, Qi Li11

1Hong Kong Oyster Hatchery and Innovation Research Unit (HKO-HIRU), The Swire Institute of Marine Science and School of Biological Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China

2CAS Key Laboratory of Tropical Marine Bio-Resources and Ecology, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, China

3CAS Key Laboratory of Experimental Marine Biology, Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao, China

4State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China

5School of Agriculture, Ludong University, Yantai, China

6Liaoning Key Laboratory of Marine Animal Immunology, Dalian Ocean University, Dalian, China

7Lee Kum Kee Co., Ltd. Tai Po Industrial Estate, Hong Kong, China

8School of Biological Sciences and Centre for Marine Coastal Studies, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Malaysia

9Faculty of Biology, University of Science Vietnam National University, Hanoi, Vietnam

10Haskin Shellfish Research Laboratory, Rutgers University, USA

8Ocean University of China, Qingdao, Chian

 

*rajan@hku.hk

 



China accounts >85% of global edible oyster (shellfishes in general) production, which is and expected to produce even more in coming years to meet global demand for seafood protein by using this carbon-neutral coastal delicacy – the blue food. This massive coastal industry is, however, facing severe challenges to simultaneously increase meat quality and quantity using indigenously developed oyster seed collection, hatchery and cultivation technologies – especially, when oysters in south China are encountering unprecedented mass mortality at the time of harvest in winter – the so called “winter mass mortality”, human dominance on coastal habitats and climate change. Though the reason for such mass mortality in variable with environment and time, seasonal shift in temperature, salinity and pH due to climate change appears to be involved in weakening oyster immune response and thus make them vulnerable to opportunistic pathogens. This mass mortality is not only directly affecting quality of oysters produced but also seriously affecting wild seed production and collection. The collected few wild seeds also experience mortality and their performance often unpredictable. The future of oyster farming is dependent on the development of hatcheries and advanced breeding technologies such as genomic selection. In this talk, we will discuss the current status of edible oyster aquaculture and the challenges this sector is facing due to climate change and multiple stressors. End the talk by showing how our “university, industry and grower’s network and cooperation” is developing and transferring the grower-centered oyster hatchery technology that are recently getting popular in China and found to be more effective and sustainable, especially in South China and southeast Asia.