OYSTER SHELLFISH DISEASE

At the Horn Point Laboratory hatchery, Sea Grant has been responsible for large amounts of seed for research: from 20 million (1997) to 75 million (2002); with a new hatchery nearly completed, Sea Grant hopes to produce 500 million spat a year.

More Sea Grant Impacts…

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Themes
Aquaculture
Aquatic Invasive Species
Biotechnology
Coastal Communities & Economies
Coastal Natural Hazards
Digital Ocean
Ecosystems & Habitats
Fisheries
Marine Aquatic Science Literacy
Seafood Science & Technology
Urban Coasts

National Priority Areas
Fisheries Extension
Harmful Algal Blooms
Oyster Disease Research

The Issue:
The problem of oyster disease began in 1956 on the East coast, when an unknown parasite killed more than 90 percent of the oysters in Delaware Bay. Early in the 1940s, oysters in the Gulf Coast began declining. Since then, oysters on the East, West and Gulf coast have been declining due to two types of fatalistic, parasitic diseases: Haplosporidium nelsoni, which causes MSX disease, and Perkinsus marinus, which causes Dermo disease.

Sea Grant:
Sea Grant now administers the Oyster Disease Research Program (ODRP). Through the ODRP, Sea Grant hopes to develop optimal strategies for managing oyster disease, understand the process of parasitic infection, improve the understanding of the oyster’s immune system; improve hatchery techniques for producing disease-resistant strains, and develop molecular tools to better monitor the onset and presence of disease.