Mussel Seminar

Mussel wall.\Photo by Sara Schreiber.

The Hatfield Marine Science Center has shifted its usual seminar series online.  The next edition of what are now the HMSC Virtual Research Seminars is coming up on Thursday, June 4, 3:30 p.m. online.

Speaker will be Craig Norrie, a post-doctoral scholar with Oregon State University’s Coastal Oregon Marine Experiment Station (COMES).  His topic will be “Mussels, models, and microchemistry: Can larval spill-over from aquaculture assist with bivalve restoration efforts?”

Dr. Norrie’s description of the talk:

“Worldwide bivalve aquaculture is expanding rapidly. Simultaneously there has been a loss of natural bivalve reefs due to anthropogenic activities. As bivalve reefs support several ecosystem functions disproportionate to the area they cover, there is interest in their restoration. Northern New Zealand once supported dense benthic populations mussels which were extirpated by a dredge fishery. There are now active restoration efforts in the area which may receive larvae produced at aquaculture. To quantify this, however, knowledge of larval dispersal patterns is required. I will discuss the developments necessary for the application of trace elemental fingerprinting techniques for tracking bivalve larval dispersal in a highly modified coastal embayment. Subsequently, using a combination of these trace elemental fingerprinting techniques and biophysical dispersal modelling we show the potential for larval spill-over from aquaculture populations to provide a population subsidy to restored mussel beds. This spill over suggests aquaculture should be considered in restoration planning.” 

For the live broadcast of the VIRTUAL Thursday Seminar, visit:  https://oregonstate.zoom.us/j/94555731151 or  call +1-971-247-1195 US Meeting ID: 945 5573 1151