Croissance de l'huitre japonaise Crassostrea gigas en cylindre rotatif Stanway. Premiers resultats en France

A new method of oyster cultivation, the Stanway oyster cylinder, has been experimented in the basin of Arcachon since the autumn of 1989. The first observations on three species of juvenile bivalves showed that this system could be successfully used with the Japanese oyster Crassostrea gigas . A comparative study of the growth of this last species, reared in cylinders and oyster bags, has been carried out since spring 1990. The first results showed that the growth of juveniles and 18 months old oysters in cylinders is not as good as in bags. On the other hand, mortality did not differ between both techniques: less than 3%. This new system seems to be less efficient than the traditional French way of rearing oysters. However, an improvement in the quality of the mollusc has been observed: higher condition index and thick, clean, smooth, well shaped, nacreous shells. These cylinders may be therefore used at the end of the rearing period to improve the quality of marketable oysters.