BLOODWORMS US/UK

Sent: 05 February 2002

QUESTION:

Is there a noticeable difference in quality of blood- (or: rag-) worms regarding maturation performance between the UK-cultured animals and the US variety?

Is there a substitute somewhere or has anybody investigations running along that line?

Burkhard
e-mail: mantenec1@t-online.de

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COMMENTS 1 :

Seahatch on Aruba island (Dutch Antilles) has turned completely to our farmed ragworms. The performance is exactly the same as with the bloodworms, so they claim. Bruce Franck, who is with GMSB in the Florida Keys) claims that the performance was slightly better with our ragworms compared to the bloodworms (135,000 nauplii per female against 128,000). So, our ragworms are at least as good as the bloodworms. The only difference is the price, which is about 1/3 of that of the bloodworms!
The European Bait Group has two farms in Europe. Topsy Baits in the Netherlands and Dragon Baits in Wales, UK. The construction of a third farm (in UK) will start this year. Please take a look at our farms at www.topsybaits.com

Bert Meijering
e-mail: bert@topsybaits.nl

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COMMENTS 2:

While I mostly agree with Bert: farm raised worms are better priced than Maine worms; it is unfortunately not the only worm we can compare it with.
There are a number of other sources in several countries where the price for wild polychaete will be always cheaper than farmed ones. Farming in Europe costs investments, technology and labor while harvesting in some tropical countries requires very little of each.

I would like to add that there are much more value and difference in intensively farmed marine worms:
1. Price is not only "lower"; it is stable. And allow you planning.
2. Availability is much more consistent, permanent now.
3. Because the worms are harvested live, unhurt and frozen alive; you have the best freshness and quality.
4. Intensive farming gives the highest degree of control on the growout conditions and you will be able to achieve highest possible fat content, nutritional quality and lowest possible contamination.
5. Prices in Maine are rocketing because of uncontrolled harvested resource for instance. Using farmed worms is the responsible way.
I have posted a file on the shrimplist server with detailed analysis of nutrition - Intensive Worms.doc -, fatty acids, bacterial load, metals contaminants. Give it a look and dare compare. I hope some of you will find it interesting and will understand what I am mean.

Finally I wished to inform the interested parties that Seabait Ltd has established a second distribution center out of the USA, to facilitate delivery and logistics. Now you can order up to your choice product from the UK or the US.

Eric Pinon
Seabait, UK                        Telefax: +44-167-081-4102    www.seabait.com
Service Aqua LLC, USA        Fax: +1-561-264-8076              epinon@norepson.com.ec
Norepson S.A.   , Ecuador    Ph/Fx: +593-99-428-948           lvera@norepson.com.ec

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