Professor Donal Manahan of USC’s Wrigley Marine Science Center is doing research with oysters that could not only bring balance back to the ocean’s wounded ecosystem, but also help feed our world’s burgeoning population as well. Manahan and his research partner, professor Dennis Hedgecock, are at the forefront of metabolic research at the small-scale oyster hatchery near Two Harbors on Catalina.
They said that the main aim of the research is to focus on a process called hybrid vigor, wherein pedigree oysters are inbred, then crossed to produce what Manahan calls “gangbuster growers.” It is told that in future there is a potential for researchers to look at which strains are most resistant to vibrio bacteria and other microorganisms that have historically been a threat to their survival.
Manahan said that they trick the oyster in different way when they first come out as babies they have a little glue to attach to another oyster. They trick and take oyster shell and grind it into sand grains, and then they settle on that so they can grow independently. Then they can culture in three dimensions. Manahan opined that they can grow oysters in water columns that are 100 feet deep.
However, Manahan believes that, to promote sustainability, aquaculture should focus on the entire ecosystem and on maintaining genetic diversity rather than on the monoculture that the green revolution encouraged.
