CHARLOTTETOWN — Prince Edward Island's oyster industry is calling for more research and government action as a parasite spreads in the province's waters, threatening the world-renowned export.
Oyster farmers are worried the parasite multinucleate sphere unknown — also known as MSX — will destroy the industry, which has sustained their families for generations, Bob MacLeod, president of the P.E.I. Shellfish Association, told a legislature committee on Thursday.
"We have participated in more than 100 meetings since July, addressing the hurdles, concerns, frustrations resulting from the MSX invasion," he said. "We have appealed for assistance time and time again, explaining that the longer we wait for action, the sooner we may lose our industry."
MSX targets both wild and cultured oysters, and typically kills about 95 per cent of affected mollusks within two to three years of the initial infection. It was found in oysters in P.E.I.'s Bedeque Bay and several other areas in July, leading the Canadian Food Inspection Agency to institute quarantines. It has been in Nova Scotia waters since 2002 and has also been detected in southern British Columbia.
"It is now January, and we are three months away from placing our tongs in the water and restarting our livelihood," he said about the scheduled start to this year's harvesting season. "But I can't help but wonder if we'll even have an industry."
MacLeod said a harvester he knows collected some oysters for his family for the holidays from an area in the province known to have MSX. They were fresh when he harvested them, but when he opened the box on New Year's Eve, some of the mollusks were half dead, some were dried up, while others had turned black.
The fear among farmers, he said, is that they haven't seen the full extent of the problem.
Jerry Bidgood of the PEI Seafood Processors Association told the committee that his members don't know how many oysters harvested in spring will survive until fall. "We have to decide — do we want to buy from MSX areas and hold that product knowing that there will probably be die off and we have to take it on the chin?" he said. "Who's going to take that hit?"
MacLeod said he would like to see researchers at the University of Prince Edward Island and Cape Breton University study ways of protecting the oysters from infection. Meanwhile, the provincial government should draw up a plan for financial relief for oyster farmers for this spring, he added.
"The most important of all for people's mental health is the development of a compensation plan to be implemented as necessary, starting with the spring fishery."
Last year, two cases of another disease called dermo were detected in Merigomish, N.S., and Spence Cove, N.B., not far from the Confederation Bridge linking New Brunswick with Prince Edward Island. Dermo, also known as perkinsosis, presents in oysters more than one year old and causes several symptoms, including making their shells open out of water.
Peter Warris, executive director of the P.E.I. Aquaculture Alliance, said the oyster industry in the United States continues to prosper despite the spread of MSX and dermo. "If they can do it, there is no reason that the P.E.I. oyster industry cannot adapt to this new reality and continue to thrive."
But, he added, it cannot be done without government support for farmers to help tide them over this period, adding that further research is necessary to learn how these diseases can be stopped from spreading.
Martin O'Brien of the PEI Seafood Processors Association said there were some questions about the severity of the disease when the parasite was first detected. "But I think the general consensus now is that MSX is no joke and will indeed be impactful to the industry. The upcoming season will paint a clear picture of how devastating it will be."
He emphasized the need for research, saying "smart husbandry and science" will help the industry navigate these waters.
"I firmly believe that we will look back on this as a bump in the road, and we'll have a thriving industry providing tasty and nutritious oysters for many generations to come," O'Brien said.
"But this will only happen if we continue to work with each other and evolve."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 10, 2025.
The Canadian Press
