Abstract:Shellfish culture as a part of carbon sink fishery is doubtful. In order to explain the carbon sink function and identify the carbon source of shellfish, the carbon sources of three culture-bivalve were analyzed by using stable carbon isotope technique. The results showed that:the δ13C of the three culture-bivalve shells ranged from -6.9‰ to -6.3‰, the δ13C of soft tissue ranged from -23.2‰ to -21.9‰, and the enrichment degree of δ13C for shell and soft tissue was negatively correlated. The main carbon source of three culture-bivalve shells was dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC), followed by dissolved organic carbon (DOC), and the total contribution rate was above 86%. The major carbon source of soft tissue in three culture-bivalve was suspended solids, followed by sediments, with the total contribution rate of more than 94%. The shell and soft tissue of culture-bivalve showed extremely significant different selection in carbon source. Sediment was not the main source of carbon in culture-bivalve shells, most of the carbon converted into shells comes from the seawater DIC, which reduced the concentration of DIC in seawater, and promoted the CO2 in the atmosphere transfer to seawater.This plays a role of indirect carbon fixation. Shellfish aquaculture fishery has obvious function of carbon sequestration.