Most seafood lovers can't go past a plate of fresh scallops. But would you believe the humble little scallop injects $30 million dollars a year into our economy? Trouble is, scallop stocks are highly variable - so the team at Bribie Island Research Centre are trying to create a baby boom in the scallop world!

Their solution is to grow scallops in captivity, right from the larval stage. But it had never been done on a large scale.

So the Bribie team's spent the last ten years creating the perfect scallop nursery.

Which turns out to be a clean bed of sand - and a tasty concoction of 5 types of microalgae for baby scallops to feed on.

The researchers passed on their knowledge to Qld Sea Scallops - an aquaculture company that's now grown 12 million scallops to juvenile stage. Then reseeded them back in the wild.

Sea scallops are 2 - 4mm when they reach juvenile stage.

But scientists need to make sure the hatchery scallops are surviving alongside their wild cousins. So the Bribie team has developed a way of marking their shells.

Tim Lucas from the Bribie Island Aquaculture Research Centre explained how they mark the scallops when babies, and then look at them when less than 5mm long. They pass it under strong UV light, and that's how they tell whether they've been marked.

The scallops are immersed in a nontoxic chemical, which shows up on their shell under UV light.

The first batch of marked scallops will be released shortly, and researchers will keep track of their progress.

The ultimate goal is a stable catch of scallops every season, which will mean a huge boost for our scallop industry.