The company has a breeding program and works closely with Dr. “We expect to be able to ship to more growers over 2017/18. “We are set to increase our output by 40%,” says Nisbet. That initial build was expanded to a footprint of about 30,000 square feet. “Single seed is settled in Hawaii and at 3-4mm, after about 6-8 weeks, they are ready to be shipped to farms in Alaska, Washington, Oregon and California, for growout,” says Kingzett. Setting larvae is shipped back to the mainland to supply the company’s own 2000 acres of farm. Seed is grown in a bottle nursery to a range of sizes. Algae is raised in a bag system, in a greenhouse, that uses only natural light. The larvae are reared in 5000 gallon tanks on continuous flow. We do have the ability to hold broodstock in winter conditions and recycle them in Hawaii and we expect in the future we will do that.” “It’s a more expensive approach, but it works for us right now. “We bring the gigas broodstock in from Willapa Bay rich in glycogen and ripen them in Hawaii,” Kingzett explains. They began with a 7,600 square foot building that was operational in 2011. “We follow the same biosecurity approach as a salmon smolt or shrimp hatchery and we really work on it.” “We don’t have any disease issues,” says Senior Biologist and VP Brian Kingzett. The chemistry of the aquifer is likely to remain steady for years to come, regardless of changes to the surrounding ocean.

The advantage of the saltwater aquifer that they have tapped is that the water has a constant water chemistry that’s perfect for growing shells on oyster larvae. The island’s lava rock acts as a natural filter for the water, which comes in at a salinity of 33-34 ppt and 22☌ year-round. “It was a lot of work.” But it is the key to their operation. “I wouldn’t recommend drilling a salt water well to anyone,” says Nisbet. Hawaiian Shellfish LLC is just outside of Hilo at a site approximately a quarter mile inland. “We got a bit of seed that was setting okay, so we decided to purchase an acre of land, drill our own salt and freshwater wells, build a hatchery and get our feet wet.” “We were able to figure out hatchery and algae protocols over two years,” says Nisbet. “That appealed to me because it was contained it wasn’t a flow-up from the ocean.” “PACRC has a saltwater well,” Nisbet says.

Goose Point Oyster company started working with Maria Haws from the University of Hawaii at the Pacific Aquaculture and Coastal Resources Center (PACRC) facility on the Big Island and they discovered a key to the motherload of sorts.

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