牡蠣養殖 Oyster farming in Taiwan
Taiwan’s west coast is the major agricultural centers for raising oysters (growing in seawater or the meeting area of saltwater and freshwater). There are three types of oyster farming depending on the water depths, and they are floating rack, upright rack, and cradle rack.
1.Floating Frame / floating rack
Rafts are held by items with buoyant force to float at the surface of the water and fastened by heavy stones. The growth of oysters is not affected by the depth of water in this system. This farming method is usually seen in areas with deeper water. Oysters growing underneath the water result in faster oyster growth and larger output.
浮棚式
常見於外海、河口、潟湖等水深水域寬廣處，以竹子搭築蚵架，以發泡塑膠或密封油桶作為浮子將蚵棚浮在水面上，並以錨加以固定。養殖時每串牡蠣約有12–20個母殼，自蚵棚往下垂掛，潮水漲退牡蠣永遠保持在水面下，故生長速度最快，產量最多。
2.Straight frame / upright rack (vertical hanging method)
The upright racks are usually seen in the inland Sea or tidal creeks. This method has bamboos located in coastal areas to suspend the seed oysters. Oysters at the top sometimes are exposed at the surface of the water. This method is suitable to apply at areas whose water level is about 30cm to a little more than 1m at the low tide.
吊棚式
吊棚式又稱為掛棚、站棚或垂下式，一般使用在內灣或是潮溝，以竹子立於底部作為根基，將蚵串垂直往下垂掛，且與海流呈垂直最佳，可增加流過蚵串之流量使牡蠣攝食機會增多，而蚵串距底部約30公分，可避免蚵螺爬上蚵串造成損失。吊棚式養殖法在退潮時，頂端的牡蠣有時會裸露出水面。
Overturned frame/ cradle rack ( horizontal hanging method)
The rack culture can be adopted in shallow areas with a series of strings of oysters hung from each of the parallel ropes. When the tide sets out, most of the oysters are exposed above the surface of the water to receive sunlight. This method is usually applied in shallow areas.
倒棚式
又稱為平掛式，一般使用在較淺的水域，不易使用浮棚式與吊棚式之處，將綁好的蚵串，水平掛置於蚵棚，退潮時將有大半的牡蠣裸露於水面，可長期接受陽光曝曬，據說有被陽光曝曬的牡蠣將有獨特的口感，更具風味。
After removing the oyster from the shell, oyster farmers dry the larger oyster shells in the sun and drill hole on each shell. 10 of the shells are hung together on one nylon string. Afterward, they could be re-used and placed in the ocean by tying on the bamboo frame as the bedding for the baby oysters to attach and grow.
Each shell can grow many baby oysters in the ocean. The ones that submerge in the water grow faster than the one above the water due to the high and low tide. After 6 months to 1 year, all the oyster shells are moved to salt marsh to have them grow “fat”, which may take one month or so.
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