Sieving

The oysters were sieved on ˝ inch screen prior to deployment. The sieving started 8-4-03. The animals large enough for deployment (approx. 20 millimeters or greater) would be held on the screen, the others fall through and get placed back in the F.L.U.P.S.Y system to continue growing. Each sieve group was not kept separate by sieve date, as with the C. ariakensis however the F.L.U.P.S.Y. system was organized by the size class of the oysters. The oysters that grew the fastest, which held on the 1/2 inch screen upon first sieving were counted and stocked 10,000 per bag (3/8th ADPI oyster bags) and transported to interested VSC trial growers. These oysters were not for the VSC trials, but for a “practice” run to test biosecurity measures prior to handling 3N C. ariakensis. The size class batch greater than ˝ inch remaining in the F.L.U.P.S.Y. (average growers) was split into 10 parts, for each of the ten growers (now eight) prior to deployment. Therefore, the “streakers” (the fastest growers of the 3N C. virginica) were not included as official parts of the VSC industry trial. There were a significant amount of the 3N C. virginica smaller than ˝ inch left over which represent the “slow growers” of the population and were not used as a part of the trial.

The animals were sieved on a ˝ inch screen the day of deployment, or a few days prior. The animals smaller than ˝ inch fell through and were placed back into the upweller system, the larger oysters, large enough for deployment were either placed in orange baskets lined with clam netting (if they were being deployed that day) or back into specific upwellers designated greater than ˝ inch and separated by sieve date (if they would be deployed a few days later). All animals prior to deployment were placed in the orange baskets lined with clam netting, were counted and each sieve group was separated into 10 equal parts (now 8) in order to ensure each participant was receiving a representative sample of the spawn.

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