Abstract

The increase in the exploitation of clams has produced a reduction in the artisanal CPUE and landing. Therefore, the importance of developing a technology for culture and commercial production of burrowing bivalves is evident. The aim of this work is to make an analysis of bivalves with biologic and market potential in Chile, to establish the state of the art and detect the gaps to complete and improve the current cultivation technology. According to the results of an advisory contracted by the government and an expert team, we include six species in this analysis: Mulinia edulis (taquilla clam), Venus antiqua (taca clam), Ensis macha (razor clam), Gari solida (huepo), Mesodesma donacium (surf clam) and Tawera gayi (juliana clam) (Table 1). Presently, there are no commercial cultures of clam in Chile, nevertheless two species are more advanced, M.edulis and V.antiqua. The effect of culture density, diet and ration in the growth and survival of larvae and post larvae of Mulinia (Oliva et al. 2013, 2014; Vivanco et al., 2014) is known. Grown out experiments in the sea showed that seeds produced in hatchery are capable of surviving long transfer periods and grow both in the subtidal and intertidal zone (Abarca et al., 2012). In the case of Venus antiqua, several studies have been made on reproductive cycle, broodstock conditioning, larvae and postlarvae culture, seed production (Bustos and Olavarría, 2000) and growing up in the sea up to commercial size. In razor and surf clam, larval and post-larval cultures are developed, with a pilot level scaling up to production of competent larvae in Ensis (Arriagada et al., 2013). Gari solida currently has initial research on embrionary development and culture of larvae and post larvae (Olavarría et al, 1996, Contreras et al., 2014 a, b). The scaling of the larval and postlarval cultures of this species is still lacking. The culture of Tawera gayi is already starting in an initial experimental level.