Disclosed is a protector for a clip and line used to suspend aquaculture baskets or like equipment in water. In particular, the protector provides a sacrificial element between the clip and the line that is cheap to manufacture and easy to replace. While an application of the present invention is in oyster cultivation, it could equally well be applied to any process involving the line suspension of an article in water.

A method for constructing a cage body of a tapered cage assembled in a rigid-flexible manner includes steps as follows. A cage body of a tapered aquaculture cage is assembled by combining a rigid-structure copper alloy stretched mesh and a flexible synthetic fiber mesh. Pipe rings mounted on the standard component of the synthetic fiber mesh are mated in a staggered manner with plugging rings on the standard component of the copper alloy stretched mesh, and high-performance synthetic fiber rope is rove through the pipe rings and the plugging rings; in this way, the connection is completed. The cage effectively improves the cage resilience under the ocean current condition, avoids mesh sheet deformation or corner breakage, enhances the water exchange capability in and out of the cage body of the gravity cage, and effectively improves the growth environment for the fishes farmed in the cage body.

A method for constructing a cage body of a tapered cage assembled in a rigid-flexible manner includes steps as follows. A cage body of a tapered aquaculture cage is assembled by combining a rigid-structure copper alloy stretched mesh and a flexible synthetic fiber mesh. Pipe rings mounted on the standard component of the synthetic fiber mesh are mated in a staggered manner with plugging rings on the standard component of the copper alloy stretched mesh, and high-performance synthetic fiber rope is rove through the pipe rings and the plugging rings; in this way, the connection is completed. The cage effectively improves the cage resilience under the ocean current condition, avoids mesh sheet deformation or corner breakage, enhances the water exchange capability in and out of the cage body of the gravity cage, and effectively improves the growth environment for the fishes farmed in the cage body.

Disclosed herein are methods and systems for removing carbon dioxide (CO.sub.2) from water and quantifying the carbon so removed, thus facilitating valuation of that carbon for schemes (e.g., Kyoto agreement) that attach financial rewards for capture, sequestration or removal of carbon or CO.sub.2.

The current invent relates to the construction and application of a three-line breeding system in the Peruvian scallop×bay scallop hybrids. The said three-line consists of a male sterile line, a maintainer line and a restorer line of the bay scallop×Peruvian scallop hybrids. Herein the Peruvian scallop×bay scallop hybrids are hybrids resulted from the eggs of the Peruvian scallops fertilized with sperm of the bay scallops. In constructing the three-line, male sterile individuals are selected from F.sub.1 inter-specific hybrid families and continuously backcrossed with sperm of the selling family of the sperm-providing bay scallops of the F.sub.1 hybrid to obtain a combination of male sterile line and maintainer line whose hybrid progenies are all male sterile. Then selected individuals from the male sterile line are continuously backcrossed with sperm from the selfing family of a bay scallop until the resulted progenies are all hermaphroditic and exhibit excellent production traits. Commercial male sterile brood stocks are produced by backcrossing the eggs of the male sterile line with the sperm of the maintainer line and commercial Peruvian scallop×bay scallop hybrid spats are produced by backcrossing the eggs of the male sterile line and sperm of the restorer line. This invent establishes the three-line breeding system in animals for the first time and efficiently overcomes the barrier of self-fertilization in the hybridization between hermaphroditic scallops. The yield of the hybrid scallops can be increased by over 50% compared with the bay scallops.

The current invent relates to the construction and application of a three-line breeding system in the Peruvian scallop×bay scallop hybrids. The said three-line consists of a male sterile line, a maintainer line and a restorer line of the bay scallop×Peruvian scallop hybrids. Herein the Peruvian scallop×bay scallop hybrids are hybrids resulted from the eggs of the Peruvian scallops fertilized with sperm of the bay scallops. In constructing the three-line, male sterile individuals are selected from F.sub.1 inter-specific hybrid families and continuously backcrossed with sperm of the selling family of the sperm-providing bay scallops of the F.sub.1 hybrid to obtain a combination of male sterile line and maintainer line whose hybrid progenies are all male sterile. Then selected individuals from the male sterile line are continuously backcrossed with sperm from the selfing family of a bay scallop until the resulted progenies are all hermaphroditic and exhibit excellent production traits. Commercial male sterile brood stocks are produced by backcrossing the eggs of the male sterile line with the sperm of the maintainer line and commercial Peruvian scallop×bay scallop hybrid spats are produced by backcrossing the eggs of the male sterile line and sperm of the restorer line. This invent establishes the three-line breeding system in animals for the first time and efficiently overcomes the barrier of self-fertilization in the hybridization between hermaphroditic scallops. The yield of the hybrid scallops can be increased by over 50% compared with the bay scallops.

The current invent relates to the construction and application of a three-line breeding system in the bay scallop×Peruvian scallop hybrids. The said three-line consists of a male sterile line, a maintainer line and a restorer line. A combination of male sterile line and maintainer line is obtained by continuously backcrossing the male sterile individuals selected from F.sub.1 inter-specific hybrid families with sperm of the selfing family of the sperm-providing Peruvian scallops until the progenies are all male sterile. The restorer line is obtained by continuously backcrossing selected individuals from the male sterile line with sperm of the selfing family of a Peruvian scallop until the progenies are all hermaphroditic and exhibit excellent production traits. Commercial male sterile brood stocks are produced by backcrossing the male sterile line with the maintainer line and commercial hybrid spats are produced by backcrossing the male sterile line and the restorer line.

The current invent relates to the construction and application of a three-line breeding system in the bay scallop×Peruvian scallop hybrids. The said three-line consists of a male sterile line, a maintainer line and a restorer line. A combination of male sterile line and maintainer line is obtained by continuously backcrossing the male sterile individuals selected from F.sub.1 inter-specific hybrid families with sperm of the selfing family of the sperm-providing Peruvian scallops until the progenies are all male sterile. The restorer line is obtained by continuously backcrossing selected individuals from the male sterile line with sperm of the selfing family of a Peruvian scallop until the progenies are all hermaphroditic and exhibit excellent production traits. Commercial male sterile brood stocks are produced by backcrossing the male sterile line with the maintainer line and commercial hybrid spats are produced by backcrossing the male sterile line and the restorer line.

A pneumatically controlled shellfish aquaculture apparatus is provided. A frame has containers for holding shellfish secured to the top side of the frame and tanks secured to the bottom side of the frame. Each tank has an air supply line connected to the tank and an opening on the bottom side of the tank. Each air supply line is connected to a manifold for controlling airflow to the tanks. Air is used to displace water in the tanks by pushing the water out of the openings in the bottom of the tanks in order to float the frame. To submerge the frame, the tanks are depressurized to allow water to displace the air in the tanks. When floating, the tanks lift the frame and the containers out of the water to allow air desiccation in order to prevent bio-fouling of the equipment and shellfish.

There is provided herein a method of treating a poikilothermic organism, such as marine bivalves, in a decreasing temperature environment which method comprises exposing the organism to a source of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) at temperatures of from 18° C. to about 12° C., and then exposing the organism to a source of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) at temperatures of from about 11° C. to about 5° C. There is also provided herein a method of just conducting the first or second exposing step without the other, and also a method of using a decrease in temperature to catalyze the organism to produce EPA and/or DHA and/or non-methylene-interrupted fatty acids (NMIs).