The presence of a parasite that harms oysters has lead the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) to place several Prince Edward Island (PEI), Canada-based aquaculture sites under quarantine.
The CFIA said it confirmed the presence of multinuclear sphere X (MSX) in PEI, caused by Haplosporidium nelson – an oyster pathogen that first appeared on the East Coast of the U.S. in 1959. The pathogen poses no threat to humans but can cause oysters to have decreased growth rates and increases oyster mortality.
“To limit the spread of the disease, the CFIA, Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO), and the Province of PEI are working together with stakeholders and provincial/territorial partners to monitor the situation and take action as necessary,” the CFIA said.
To help control the spread of the pathogen, the three agencies are applying movement controls in the Bedeque Bay, Prince Edward Island area; investigating the source of the detection; engaging scientists, producers, and fish harvesters to continue monitoring mollusk health in the area to catch any signs of decreased growth or increased mortalities; and are ensuring that information on detecting the pathogen and about movement control are available to producers.
The PEI Aquaculture Alliance reported that three positive results for MSX came from its first survey and that new quarantine restrictions are being placed on leaseholders in Bedeque Bay.
“Those leaseholders have been contacted by CFIA and given instructions on managing their activities under quarantine. All activities on those lease need a permit from CFIA,” the alliance said in a statement on its website. “These are presumptive positives and must be confirmed by further genetic testing. These three leaseholders (included in the quarantine announcement) have been informed of these results.”
The alliance also said that due to privacy concerns, the CFIA is not able to share the location of the leases or the positive test results yet, but the agency has requested the ability to communicate the details to the oyster industry as soon as possible.
