Pest Control: Caprellids // Skeleton Shrimp
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This past season, we had a complete crop failure due to an infestation of Caprellids (skeleton shrimp). These small, shrimp-like critters are usually on the farm, but in small, insignificant quantities. This season, their population exploded. By early March, they were all over the kelp and not long after, the kelp was completely consumed. I was left with grow lines covered in a thick layer of Caprellids.
I saw this once before in 2021 at another farm in the region. Similar situation - complete crop failure. Has anyone else ever experienced this issue? Interested to hear people's thoughts on pest management.
@tom_campbell Hi Tom, could you provide a little more information about your farm setup and the timing of the skeleton shrimp set? And also some information on the farm setup at the other farm you're referring to?
We haven't seen anything like this on our farms. My initial thinking is that this could be related to the depth of the grow lines in the water, the surrounding water temperature, or the amount of flow that the farm site gets but it is hard to know.
@tom_campbell Do you have any pictures of the infestation that you could share? Did you observe any other biofouling organisms, such as hydroids, that coincided with the caprellid infestation? And, following Maggie, what was the water temp and date when you started seeing the caprellids on your longlines? Some other farmers in Alaska and the PNW reported earlier than usual onset of biofouling this year, including heavy diatom growth in early April, but yours is the only report of a significant caprellid infestation. Last year and this year, farmers in Maine started reporting the onset of snails in mid-April and heavy presence of snails by early- to mid-May. Caprellids showed up in Southern New England in April/May but not in such abundance that it had an impact on kelp sales.