Sustainable Aquaculture – Pacific Hybreed

Nonnative Oysters in the Chesapeake Bay

Committee on Nonnative Oysters in the Chesapeake Bay [J. Anderson and D. Hedgecock (Co-Chairs), M. Berrigan, K. Criddle, W. Dewey, S. Ford, P. Goulletquer, R. Hildreth, M. Paolisso, N. Targett, R. Whitlatch]. 2004. Nonnative Oysters in the Chesapeake Bay. National Research Council of the National Academies. The National Academies Press, Washington, D.C. 325 pp.

Shellfish have been transported and introduced by humans to areas outside of their native ranges for centuries. This study by the National Research Council, which was co-chaired by Pacific Hybreed founder Hedgecock, examined the general biological, legal, and economic consequences of introducing non-native species of shellfish, focusing, in particular, on a proposal to introduce the non-native Suminoe oyster into Chesapeake Bay to replace stocks of the native eastern oyster, which had been devastated by over-fishing and diseases.

Genetics of Shellfish on a Human-Dominated Planet

Hedgecock, D. 2011. Genetics of Shellfish on a Human-Dominated Planet. Chapter 12, in: Shellfish Aquaculture and the Environment. Shumway, S. E. (editor). Wiley-Blackwell, pp. 339-357.

This book provides resource managers and policymakers with background on issues pertaining to shellfish aquaculture. Chapter 2, co-authored by Pacific Hybreed founder Davis, provides a perspective on the role that the shellfish industry has in maintaining the environmental integrity of coastal environments suitable for shellfish aquaculture and associated commercial shellfisheries and in shaping public policy with regard to sustained multiple use of near-shore marine environments. Chapter 2, by Pacific Hybreed founder Hedgecock, discusses three broad areas of genetic impact, translocations or introductions of shellfish, interbreeding between farmed and wild stocks, and domestication and genetic improvement of shellfish in aquaculture.

Shellfish Aquaculture and the Environment: An Industry Perspective.

Dewey, W., J. P. Davis, and D. C. Cheney. 2012. Shellfish aquaculture and the environment: an industry perspective. Chapter 2, in: Shellfish Aquaculture and the Environment. Shumway, S. E. (editor).…

Aquaculture: the Next Wave of Domestication.

Hedgecock, D. 2012. Aquaculture: the Next Wave of Domestication. In: Biodiversity in Agriculture: Domestication, Evolution, and Sustainability. Gepts, P. L., T. R. Famula, R. L. Bettinger, S. B. Brush, A.

Aquaculture, the fastest growing sector of global food production, accounts for nearly 40% of aquatic production and will soon surpass capture fisheries, forecast to collapse by mid-century.

Boom-and-Bust Production Cycles in Animal Seafood Aquaculture.

You, W., and D. Hedgecock. 2018. Boom-and-bust production cycles in animal seafood aquaculture. Reviews in Aquaculture, available online. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/raq.12278.

In this paper, using data from the United Nations Food & Agriculture Organization, we document widespread boom-and-bust production cycles in marine aquaculture. Boom-and-bust production cycles have historically occurred in small aquaculture stocks, but the pattern appears to be spreading to larger and larger stocks and is having an increasing and unsustainable impact on global aquaculture production and aquatic biodiversity. We need to know more about diseases and on how to breed robust, disease- and stress-resistant aquaculture stocks.Boom-and-bust production cycles in animal seafood aquaculture.