
P.E.I. hatchery boosting production to help oyster industry cope with MSX
CBC
An oyster hatchery in Bideford, P.E.I., plans to triple its seed production next year so it can respond if demand increases because of the detection of MSX in the province's waterways.
MSX, or multinuclear sphere X, was first detected in Bedeque Bay on July 11, but it has since been confirmed in several other areas around the province.
While the parasite isn't dangerous to humans, it can be deadly to oysters and has the potential to severely cut production wherever it takes hold.
"Hatcheries are going to play a critical role. I feel that if the industry has any chance to recover from this relatively quickly, they're going to need seed and they're going to need a lot of it," said Adrian Desbarats, aquaculture business development advisor with Ulnooweg, a not-for-profit that supports Indigenous fisheries initiatives.
"I don't think that people understand the total number of seed involved. It's probably in the range of 100 to 200 million seed a year that the industry goes through.
"And if you can't get that from the wild environment, that has to come from a hatchery."
The Bideford Shellfish Hatchery is owned and operated by the Lennox Island Development Corporation.
Desbarats said the hatchery would not operate the breeding program to develop the MSX-resistant seed, but it would be a supplier. He would prefer to see the P.E.I. government run the program.
"The breeding program could then get those MSX-resistant brood stock out to hatcheries, and then the hatcheries would be responsible for spawning those brood stock and getting that MSX-resistant seed out to industry," he said.
Desbarats said the consensus from experts at a recent conference on MSX is that it will probably take three generations to develop the disease-resistant seed. With roughly two years per generation, that means a six-year process.
The Bideford hatchery produced 10 million seed last year, but Desbarats said it has the capacity for 30 to 45 million per year — and could expand even more.
"That's always a a difficult call to make," he said. "I think what we'll probably do this year is we'll shoot for at least 30 million for sure. We'll typically start getting calls around this time of year into the fall and that will help to guide us."
Desbarats views hatchery production of seed as a way to support the industry, not just through MSX but through other challenges that might lie ahead.
"The reality is that diseases are coming. We have climate change breathing down our necks as well. We have a lot of potential threats to the industry," Desbarats said.