Oyster grow-out system adapted to environmental stress in tropical estuaries

Abstract

The objective of this work was to evaluate the performance and economic viability of a relocatable floating system compared with the traditional fixed system for cultivating native oysters in estuarine areas of Northeastern Brazil. Two experiments were conducted at the aquaculture park on the north coast of the state of Sergipe. In the first experiment, two farming phases (seed and juvenile) were evaluated in floating and fixed systems, with a focus on growth, survival, and the size-class distribution of the oysters. In the second experiment, the performance of the floating system was compared between shrimp ponds and estuarine areas. The oysters in the floating system exhibited a significantly superior growth and survival in both phases (p<0.001), with a higher frequency in commercial-size classes. The economic analysis indicated that the floating system is financially viable, yielding a better return on investment than the fixed system. Additionally, oysters cultivated in shrimp ponds presented an improved performance (p<0.001), likely due to an increased environmental stability. The obtained results suggest that adaptable floating systems are a promising strategy for resilient oyster farming, particularly in facing climatic and salinity fluctuations in tropical estuarine environments.