Reproduction de l'huître creuse dans le Bassin d'Arcachon Année 2008

Each summer, the IFREMER laboratory of Arcachon monitors, in the scope of an agreement with the regional conchological section of Arcachon (SRC), the reproduction of Pacific oysters in the Arcachon Bay. This monitoring aims to provide oyster farmers with information necessary to the spat collecting: - dates and amount of spawn, - larval development speed, - presence of the most evolved stages in the habitat (close to fixation). Reproduction is monitored from mid-June to mid-September, with plankton being sampled four times a week on different representative sites. Oyster larvae at different stages are counted. At the end of the reproduction period (September-October), larval recruitment on collectors is estimated via the counting of the spats collected on a number of tiles, with the help of the French Marine Affairs, at various collection areas. Furthermore, the results gathered in the framework of the IFREMER/REMORA network are used to characterise the spawners' maturation in the spring preceding the reproduction period. This report presents the results of the 2008 reproduction season, and their interpretation through old data.