Noble scallop

Common Name(s)

English: Noble scallop

Low

Farms are certified to a third-party aquaculture standard OR farming activities are intrinsically low impact (e.g. rope cultivation of filter feeding shellfish).

Japanese

hiougi-gai

Traditional Chinese

扇貝

Simplified

华贵栉孔扇贝

Certifications

Click Here

Date of Assessments

March 2022

Peer Reviewer

Ms Heather Sadusky, University of Maine

Assessment Organisation

The University of Hong Kong

SEASONAL AVAILABILITY

Overview

Noble scallop (Mimachlamys nobilis), is primarily distributed in South China Sea, East China Sea, Eastern Japan and as far south as Indonesia, and is most abundant in Daya Bay from Guangdong Province.
According to FAO data, China dominates the Scallop production globally, and produced 1,828,107 tonnes of Scallop in 2019. Despite the large number, M.nobilis makes up only 3% of the total production in China, which is roughly 50,000 tonnes per year
Japan is also home to a large-scale scallop industry, yet the M.nobilis production is not extensive and kept small as a subsidiary job for local fishermen.
China began large-scale M.nobilis aquaculture in the 1980s, with extensive farming (2,400 hectares) being carried out along the Southern coast. China has also developed scallop hatcheries techniques since the 1970s. Currently the M.nobilis hatcheries can be found in multiple provinces, including Shandong, Guangdong and Fujian.
The scallops can be harvested after being cultured for around one year in Southern region.

Long line system, noble scallop

Scallops are grown-out on sunken longlines, suspended lantern nets, or ear-hung directly on a down-line where the line is being anchored with one or both ends to the sea bottom.

Floating raft system, noble scallop

A off bottom farming technique where suspend tray systems e.g. cages and lantern nets are used as nurseries for juvenile scallop as well as for scallop growout.

The latin species name
Evidence of the country of origin, name and location of the farm
Evidence that the farm is compliant with national regulations
Evidence that production is controlled in a way that minimises impact on the wider marine environment (i.e. there is local planning, water quality testing etc.)
Evidence of where the seed originates
Evidence that the seed used on the farm has come from sustainable sources
Evidence of where the feed originates
Evidence that the feed used on the farm has come from sustainable sources
Evidence that the farm does not use any banned medicines / chemicals
Evidence that there is a plan / procedure in place to manage animal husbandry
Mr. Law (羅廣財; +852 9832 21119) is the prospective trader of this product

COUNTRY SPECIFIC RISK ASSESSMENTS

Hong Kong

Noble scallop production can be considered to be a low risk.
The entire operation does not cause nutrient pollution to the environment, as noble scallop is a filter feeder and thus requires no additional feed, while filtering out nutrients from the water column at the same time.
All operations were based on previously established floating fish farms within fish culture zones in Tolo Channel and Sai Kung area, which are part of the Hong Kong Government’s Accredited Fish Farm Scheme (AFFS), having support from the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) including live water quality monitoring data, and guidelines regarding disease prevention and treatment.
All noble scallop seedlings are purchased from China, where industrial production relies exclusively on the breeding broodstock and minimal reliance on the natural population.
Several farms are under the review processes of certification from a third-party organic organisation – Hong Kong Organic Resource Centre Certification Ltd (HKORC), which is accredited by the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM).

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