Video credit: Juan Martin Canturin Garcia (Peru)
Review: Abdel Rahman El Gamal (Founder of the website and video channel)
This video shows the harvest of farmed Peruvian scallop, Argopecten purpuratus (fan shell) in Peru. The culture of fan shell (sea scallop) in Peru was developed as small projects in the 1980s; then progressing to much larger number of bigger projects during the 2000s.
The suspended method of scallop culture is favored –compared to bottom culture- due to its easiness in management and de-attachment upon harvest, higher production, better survival, and satisfactory growth rates.
The scallop culture in Peru is an export oriented activity as most of scallop produced in Peru is shipped to international markets as frozen products.
The overall conditions in Peru are in favor of the culture of scallops especially in regard to the availability of aquaculture experience, high natural sea productivity and oceanographic conditions (primarily temperature), availability of labor, and the less production costs compared to other farmed species. The overall conditions allow the organisms to reach commercial sizes or 5 to 8 cm in a brief period of time. Moreover, the demand on scallop in the international market is much higher than the production of wild scallop.
