Health & Welfare
Peru project studies blood cockles for stock enhancement, aquaculture
In Peru, some wild cockle communities have been so overfished that total fishing bans are being considered. A project was therefore established to develop sustainable spat production as a crucial step toward the implementation of a conservation strategy for blood cockles that fosters social aquaculture and stock enhancement. The project rested on the establishment of protocols for reproduction, larval culture and seeding; development of diagnostic tools for molluscan pathogens and the study of blood cockles’ genetic diversity.