For
more
than
two
decades,
oyster
populations
in
Chesapeake
Bay
and
mid-Atlantic
water
have
been
increasingly
battered
by
Dermo
and
MSX,
two
parasitic
diseases
for
which
there
is
no
known
remedy.
In
the
northeast,
a new
and
as
yet
unidentified
pathogen,
called
Juvenile
Oyster
Disease
(JOD),
has
been
taking
a toll
in
hatcheries.
On
the
west
coast,
the
Pacific
Oyster
has
been
subjected
to
puzzling
summer
mortalities. |
The continuing decline of oyster
stocks has been a catalyst for federal support of the Oyster
Disease Research Program, a far-reaching effort by the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to support innovative
research that will lead to improved techniques for combating
oyster disease. The Program began in 1990 with oversight
by the NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service and its Chesapeake
Bay Office, and is now administrated by the National Sea
Grant College Program. Through competitive proposals each
year, the Oyster Disease Research Program is supporting
effort to develop:
- optimal strategies for managing around
disease
- molecular tools to better monitor
the onset and presence of disease
- better understanding of the processes
of parasitic infection
- improved understanding of the oyster's
immune system
- hatchery techniques for producing
disease-resistant strains
This extensive program of
ongoing research coupled with outreach and management efforts
aims to better serve the restoration of healthy populations
of oysters in the nation's coastal waters.
|
