Chilean mussel

Farmed mussels do not require any commercial feed sources as they get all of their nutrient requirements from the surrounding water.They feed by filtering mainly microscopic algae from the surrounding sea water.

Overall, Chilean mussel aquaculture performs well on environmental impacts, as they require no chemical inputs, disease risk is low and naturally settling spat are used for ongrowing.Mussels used in aquaculture can be found naturally in marine and brackish areas and therefore culture is entirely sea-based. Habitat concerns resulting from the physical infrastructure associated with suspended mussel culture are minimal and include the alteration of hydrodynamics, current velocities, and reduced flow rates.A variety of shellfish predators exist among mussel farms, including oyster drills, sea stars, crabs, benthic fishes, seabirds, and mammals. Methods used to harvest mussels in suspended rope culture generally do not result in direct impacts to predators. Passive and benign barrier netting can be used to prohibit any type of predator and is usually species specific. Duck deterrents are also used, with varying results.Recent mussel culture generally does not involve the application of chemicals (e.g. antibiotics, pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers) to control fouling and predators or to prevent disease.As farmed mussels are not provided external feed and there is no nutrient fertilisation, there is no concern about the impact of effluents. However, there can be a concern over changes in the sedimentary environment around mussel farms due to bio deposition and sediment trapping. These changes are limited to the farm site and are not considered to extend beyond the immediate vicinity of the farm. Furthermore, mussel farming has been shown to increase water quality at the farm site through removal of excess nutrients and phytoplankton.Mussel juveniles or ‘spat’ used for farming are either collected from the wild or settle naturally on purpose-made collectors. Research into and the development of a mussel hatchery is currently ongoing in Chile and three companies have built hatcheries and produced Chilean mussel seed at an experimental level. However, none of them yet producing seed commercially and at present, the cultivation of mussels does not rely on hatchery production of seed as wild spat falls are usually of sufficient quality and reliability and are not overexploited.Aquaculture systems that are open to the environment tend to pose a risk for disease and parasite interaction with wild populations. However, there have been few mass mortality events described for adult blue mussels and good management practices ensure that the risk is low and does not threaten regional level populations

Animal welfare is not applicable for shellfish as it is not covered by welfare regulations.

Regulation of mussel farming in Chile is comprehensive, and appears to be fully effective in minimising negative impacts. As this assessment covers both mussels independently certified to ASC standards, and uncertified mussels, two different scores have been awarded for this section. A score of 5 is awarded for certified mussels and a score of 2 is awarded for uncertified mussels.In Chile, the administration of marine conservation is complex, with multiple state agencies having the power to establish, veto, and administer the governance and management of ocean and coastal resources. At present, there is no strategic environmental planning in place, however, this could be subject to change in the future as Chile has been active over the past 5 years in designating MPAs in its marine waters and this is often a precursor to the development of a plan to cover all national marine waters.In Chile, there is regulatory framework in place to address farm level environmental impact assessment, protection of valuable habitats and species, use of land and water resources, discharges, biosecurity and disease management. These all appear to be fully effective in minimising negative impacts of mussel farming.