P.E.I.'s oyster industry waits anxiously as more samples are tested for MSX parasite

People in P.E.I.'s multimillion-dollar oyster industry are anxiously awaiting test results to see if the parasite MSX, found in Bedeque Bay recently, has spread to other waters around the Island.

Thomas Burleigh, the general manager of Burleigh Bros. Seafood in East Bideford, said it's a "very concerning" situation.

"We've been in the business for 90 years. We're really worried if we're going to make it to 100 if this continues to spread," he told CBC News on Monday. 

The chances that the parasite has spread are strong, said Peter Warris, executive director of the P.E.I. Aquaculture Alliance, because oysters from Bedeque Bay's wild oyster fishery are sent to processors in other bays. 

"It's still very early in the process to say specifically the impact that it's going to have immediately," he said. "But it has the potential to be a serious challenge for the industry."

The presence of MSX in Bedeque Bay was confirmed after harvesters noticed in June that some of the oysters they were taking up were unhealthy or dead. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency was notified and began an investigation.

Warris said they have been getting daily updates from CFIA and the P.E.I. government, and he expects more test results should be available in the next few days. 

Bedeque Bay remains closed to shellfish fishing because of the presence of MSX, after an earlier closure due to a heavy rainfall that could have caused livestock bacteria and silt to be washed into the water.

Oysters with MSX can still be eaten without harm to humans, according to the CFIA. But the parasite can prevent oysters from thriving, by slowing growth and increasing the mortality rate.

Danielle Williams, a disease technical specialist with the CFIA, said a main concern right now is that it's unclear how far MSX may have spread when oysters were moved from Bedeque Bay.

"Once we've identified those, we've prioritized the high-risk locations — so the ones that seem it could have moved MSX to that new location — and then we target that population of oysters for sampling and diagnostics in order to determine if the disease actually spread." 

Williams says people who see anything unusual involving oysters or have questions about the situation can send an email to CFIA at cfia.AtlanticAHLiaisonOfficer-OfficierdeliaisonSAAtlantique.acia@inspection.gc.ca. 

Harvesters have reason to be concerned. MSX wiped out entire oyster stocks in parts of the United States in the 1950s. It had never been spotted north of Maine until it was detected in Cape Breton in 2002. 

Burleigh said about 30 per cent of the oysters he buys comes from Bedeque Bay.