The ANNELDIA charter says subscribers will be interested in
"research" on the culture of worms but operation of commercial worm
farms will not be a discussion topic. Why not?
The distinction between research and commercial applications is
difficult to draw and as I am involved in both I would be willing to
deal with aspects relating to the commercial side. Of course it will
be necessary to respect commercial confidentiality.
For those who don't know I have had a role in the creating of a
commercial worm farm in the UK- SEABAIT LIMITED - so I have declared my
interest.
The company can provide test bed facilities eg for large scale
testing of bioturbation effects on oil incorporation into sediments
and, as it makes use of a power station warmed water supply, it could
test the effects of temperature on life cycle characteristics of
annelid species which may be of interest to ANNELIDA subscribers given the
recent discussion on transworld distributions.
Peter JW Olive
Department of Marine Sciences and Coastal Management
University of Newcastle upon Tyne
NE2 7RU
UK
I can be sent personal emails at:
p.j.w.olive at ncl.ac.uk
I do not have experience of oligochaete culture.
I do have interests in culture of Polychaeta and the applications in
supplying bait markets, food for finfish and as brood stock feeds for
prawn aquaculture.
