Raising Shellfish Cost

Raising Shellfish Cost

Raising shellfish is a cost-intensive business. A large part of the costs are due to feed, since mussels and oysters are filter feeders. They naturally filter plankton from the water, but they need additional food to get them to market size in a reasonable amount of time. The major cost in the feed is the labor needed to collect it and prepare it. A second major cost is associated with growing them in bottom cages, which must be regularly moved, cleaned and repaired.

While most growers have only one product, there are options for those who want to mix things up a bit. One could raise oysters on the bottom, but grow mussels in suspended culture (often called "off-bottom" culture). Or one could grow oysters on the bottom and mussels off the bottom at different times of the year. This would allow some use of the same equipment and infrastructure for both species.

Obviously there would be increased labor costs associated with moving cages around, but this might be offset by better growth rates or higher prices for specialty products.

Raising shellfish is not profitable for oyster growers and, in fact, many of them are selling their shellfish farms. The reason for this is that the cost of raising shellfish is rising even though the prices that farmers can get for their shellfish have not increased significantly. However, if the price of shellfish were to rise and the cost of raising it were to remain the same, then oyster farmers could make a profit again.