Abstract

Green mussel, Perna viridis is widely distributed along the Indian peninsula and considered as a nutritious delicacy. The growing demand for edible mussels prospered the farming practices along the Indian coast for which seeds termed “Spats” are derived from nature. In this study, naturally distributed green mussels’ beds were surveyed along the intertidal and estuarine regions across the Karwar coast. Subsequently, artificially spat collections were carried out using low-cost floating longline spat collectors. This study reports an approximate 350 m2 area of potential mussel beds with an average seed abundance of 406.66 no./m2 from the intertidal and estuarine regions. Artificial spat production varied from 193 to 110 no./m rope and there is no statistical significance between the spat collecting ropes (P>0.05) wherein, a statistical significance was observed between the spat collecting sites (P<0.05). Mussel raft culture was successfully carried out along the backwater of Ankola with a total production of 420 kg/10 rafts during the 137 days culture period. Overall, this article details the suitability of Karwar Coast for large-scale farming of green mussels.

Key words: Estuary, Green mussel, Mariculture, raft culture, spat collection.