Hatchery cultivation of the common cockle (Cerastoderma edule L.): from conditioning to grow-out

This study describes for the first time the cultivation of Cerastoderma edule on a commercial scale. A protocol to grow F2 generation cockles was developed, which led to fine‐tuning experiments for broodstock conditioning and spat growth. Broodstock animals were conditioned with diets of Isochrysis galbana (T‐Iso) or Tetraselmis suecica, whereas a third group was not fed. The best diet, T. suecica, induced 12 females out of 100 animals to spawn a total of 3 380 000 eggs. The non‐fed group did not spawn. Cockle spat (4.9 ± 1.0 mm) grew best when given a mixed diet of C. muelleri, T‐Iso and Sceletonema costatum, or a mixture of P. tricornutum and S. costatum at a concentration of 240 cells μl−1 day−1, resulting in a tripling of their wet weight after 14 days. The impact of density, burrowing substrate and food availability on cockle spat growth (41 days old, 5.6 ± 1.2 mm) was studied for 11 weeks. Best results were obtained by culturing spat at ad libitum food conditions at 500 ind m−2, resulting in an average growth rate of 168 μm day−1, an average final size of 19.0 ± 1.9 mm and a total final biomass of 1040 g m−2.