News & Views
Seed supply remains a challenge for oyster farmers

Having a consistent and reliable source of seed remains ons of the biggest issues facing oyster producers in the US and Canada.

Even the region's largest grower is not immune to it.  Having a consistent and reliable source of seed is a perpetual problem, Bill Taylor, the president of Taylor Shellfish based in Washington State, told Hatchery International earlier.

In the Canadian west coast, farmers are faced with the same problem, according to  Keith Reid of Stellar Bay Shellfish.

“We don’t have enough production capacity here right now. We have several hatcheries that are expanding and I buy some product from every one of them to spread out the risk,” Reid says.
He plans to buy 60 million seeds this year. “I couldn’t risk the chance that one or two growers might run into a problem and couldn’t deliver.” For that same reason Reid says he wouldn’t build or rely on a hatchery of his own.  He says he is buying about 50 percent of his seeds from Chile.

March 4, 2018  By Liza Mayer

Oyster seeds