New Zealand greenshell mussel cultivation began in the 1970s and has since undergone massive expansion, with production growth of 708% from 1988 to 2000 (an average annual growth of 18%). Initial farms were based on the 700-year-old European floating raft method of mussel cultivation which was suitable at small scales; however, methods to support larger scale production were soon needed. An adaption of the Japanese longline shellfish aquaculture system led to the methods used today for commercial greenshell aquaculture and facilitated the transition to large-scale production by incorporating mechanized harvesting. This adaptation of the Japanese longline method consists of a series of large plastic buoys connected by two ropes forming a backbone which is held in place by concrete anchor blocks or steel anchors screwed into the seabed. Once the spat have been transported from the beach to mussel farms around the country, they are transferred into a stocking that holds the spat-covered seaweed material around a “dropper rope” which is suspended in the water column hanging at regular intervals off the backbone ropes. Soon after, the stocking and seaweed rots away, leaving only the rope for the mussels to attach. Subsequent loss of spat from the dropper ropes is typically high, generally over 50% and as high as 95%. This loss is partly due to the secondary settlement behaviour of mussels, whereby the spat can release their point of attachment to the growing rope and exude a mucous “parachute” to help move to an alternative settlement site using water currents. This loss of spat from mussel farms is a significant problem for the industry. A 2007 study identified two stressors that reduce the retention of mussels on the rope; desiccation and starvation (both of which are experienced on the journey from where the spat are harvested to where they are farmed). Steps to reduce these stressors on the spat during transport could potentially improve retention rates.