BC Shellfish Growers Association

Hot off the hard-drive!  In this issue, we invite you to read about our recent successful annual R&D workshop and Gala Awards dinner, many current issues that the BCSGA is working with, updates on current scientific and innovation projects, an announcement from DFO Ottawa – Aquaculture Management Directorate on a new Aquaculture Sector Strategies effort… and much more!  Click here for Tidelines Fall 2008 or the front-page image below to view the PDF copy and enjoy…

Seed Shortage?

1/2″ & 3/4″ Pacific Oyster seed available immediately. Call Sean at (250) 757 9304.

A next generation deepwater raft has been designed and built by Keith Reid, one of the leading innovators in the BC shellfish farming industry.  A common raft design found throughout the industry in BC is the “Odyssey Raft”, but this old design of Keith’s has been modified and improved upon.  Significant improvements include: (1) massively increased strength (a result of beefed-up and larger dimensional lumber) which will allow it to better withstand harsh weather and waves, (2) incorporation of ‘off-the-shelf’ roto-molded (rigid) flotation and hardware (available from BCSGA member company Barr Plastics), and (3) a logical construction plan that allows for component replacement (i.e. a rotted beam or perimeter board) without having to scrap and rebuild the whole raft.

We are calling this the “Next-Generation Odyssey Raft” because it is anticipated to have a much longer lifespan than the previous design.  Check the photos below (click to enlarge) of the raft being constructed in Keith’s shop.  It will be launched and put into service with minimal fanfare next week (however, the fanfare is in this website post, and another story forthcoming in next week’s Tidelines Newsletter).

  

   

The BCSGA is grateful to Keith Reid for his offer to provide this design free of charge to BCSGA member companies. With funding assistance from the joint CSR-BCSGA Raft Design Innovations Project (DFO AIMAP funding), we have arranged to have official CAD (Computer Aided Design) drawings made, along with a detailed parts list – this design will be an excellent advancement of the BC shellfish farming industry in terms of our Environmental Stewardship Initiative.

Edgewater Foods International Signs $2 Million Scallops Order With Fanny Bay Oyster Co., a Division of Taylor Shellfish Farms (Click here to link to MarketWatch Press Release).

GAITHERSBURG, MD, Nov 06, 2008 (MARKET WIRE via COMTEX) — Edgewater Foods International, Inc. (EDWT 0.10, -0.04, -28.6%) , the first fully integrated shellfish producer with the largest private marine research hatchery in Canada, announced today that the Company has signed a $2 million order with Fanny Bay Oyster Co., a division of Taylor Shellfish Farms of Shelton, Wash., an international seafood distributor and the largest shellfish company on the West Coast.

The order is for more than 800,000 lbs. of Edgewater’s proprietary Pacific scallops to be delivered to Fanny Bay over the next 13 months. The order includes live scallops, fresh scallop meat and frozen scallops to be farmed in Edgewater Foods’ Qualicum Beach, British Columbia, operation, and packaged and delivered in various scallop products (including live in-the-shell, frozen half-shell and fresh meat).

The Pacific scallop is a special scallop which can grow to more than one pound and is largely disease resistant. Island Scallops Ltd, a subsidiary of Edgewater Foods International, is the sole source of Qualicum Beach scallop seed in the world and will be providing these unique scallops to Fanny Bay.

Robert Saunders, Chairman and CEO, Edgewater Foods International, said, “This is the largest order Edgewater has received to date and confirms the unique high quality scallop that we have worked so hard to develop. We are very pleased to be working with Taylor Shellfish Company, and we look forward to working with the management of Fanny Bay in preparing and delivering this order. We anticipate that this will be the start of a long term relationship with Taylor Shellfish which will benefit both our companies. Scallops have become increasingly popular with the general public. As we at Edgewater expand our farms and processing capabilities, we will expand our scallops into new markets in North America and abroad.”

In April 2008 Edgewater Foods received approval from the British Columbia Government to convert its largest scallop farm to off-bottom growing. This change in farming operation has provided the Company with the potential to add more than 20 million scallops to its annual harvest cycle when the build is completed. (more…)

November 9th, 2008.  Source: houmatoday.com. 

HOUMA — Louisiana oysters contain a substance that could help prevent and treat cancer, LSU researchers say. Fat compounds called ceramides, found in oysters as well as plants and other animals, are being used in clinical trials to speed the healing process in cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy.

“This is incredibly exciting,” said Jack Losso, a researcher in the LSU AgCenter Department of Food Science. “When we looked at cancer cells treated with ceramides, their growth had been inhibited, and they were dying.”

Losso said his research has found that ceramides in oysters can restrict blood-vessel growth and development of breast-cancer cells in test tubes and blood vessels in rats. By preventing the formation of blood vessels, the substance keeps cancer cells from multiplying because they can’t grow without nutrients from the blood.

Breast-cancer cells come in two types: hormone-dependent and hormone-independent, Losso said in a news release issued last week. Hormone-dependent cells appear early, while hormone-independent cells appear later and are more difficult to treat. “They can grow on their own without hormone stimulation,” he said of the independent cells. “But when put in contact with ceramide, tumors begin dying within 48 hours.”

In lab rats treated with oyster ceramides, blood-vessel growth that simulates cancer-cell growth and proliferation was reduced by 57 percent in seven days. No toxicity to the animals was reported. Although the rats received concentrated ceramide injections, the compound can just as easily be taken orally in pill form, Losso said. Conceivably, an oyster-rich diet could aid in cancer prevention. (more…)