Officials in P.E.I. ‘working around the clock’ to curb spread of oyster disease

By admin On Jul 25, 2024

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has published the locations of three additional P.E.I. waterways where the presence of an oyster disease has been confirmed.

The areas placed under quarantine after presumptive positive test results for MSX are:

Boughton River in eastern P.E.I.;
New London Bay/Stanley Bridge in Queens County; and
Birds Island to Black Banks, which extends along the North Shore from roughly Lennox Island to Cascumpec Bay.

That’s in addition to Bedeque Bay, where the pathogen was first detected on July 11.

The CFIA is not disclosing any information about the individuals or companies that are the subject of the presumptive positive test results.

MSX, or multinuclear sphere X, is the disease caused in oysters and other bivalve shellfish by a parasite called haplosporidium nelsoni.

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The P.E.I. government and oyster industry are working with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and DFO to limit the spread of multinucleate sphere X, a disease found in Bedeque Bay oysters. Danielle Williams, a CFIA disease technical specialist, explains.

While there’s no health risk for people eating affected oysters, the disease can lead to a mortality rate of up to 95 per cent when it strikes an oyster bed.

The CFIA declared a primary control zone (PCZ) in Bedeque Bay on July 19, before adding the designation to the other three other quarantined areas this week.

“Additional sites outside the ones mentioned above have been placed under quarantine as a temporary measure as part of CFIA’s tracing activities,” the agency said late Wednesday afternoon.

A primary control zone is a defined area where the disease has been detected or is suspected to exist. A permit from the CFIA is required to move shellfish in and out of such a zone, in an effort to limit the spread of the disease.

Dwayne Shaw of Alaska, P.E.I., has been fishing out of Bedeque Bay for the better part of three decades. — Oyster harvesters like Dwayne Shaw of Alaska, P.E.I., have told CBC News they have little option for other income if they can’t continue fishing as they have been doing for decades. (Wayne Thibodeau/CBC)

“CFIA employees are working around the clock to get permitting in place to enable the low-risk movement of oysters and other bivalves direct for human consumption or retail within or out of the PCZ — and other quarantined zones,” the inspection agency said in the statement.

“We empathize with the industry on the significant impacts on them from this detection, and greatly appreciate their support and patience as we develop our response to this disease. We need to get things right to help minimize the risk of further spread.”

The agency said it continues to test oysters from other P.E.I. waterways.

Need for clear communication

In a news release, Borden-Kinkora MLA Matt MacFarlane called on Premier Dennis King’s government to support research into MSX and provide financial help for the oyster industry.

A man stands with his hands in his pocket on a sunny day outside the PEI legislature. — Matt MacFarlane, the MLA for Borden-Kinkora, which encompasses a portion of Bedeque Bay, says the P.E.I. government has been too slow to help the oyster industry after the discovery of MSX. (Wayne Thibodeau/CBC)

MacFarlane said current and past provincial governments have known about the disease for a long time, and should have been better prepared for its appearance in P.E.I. waters.

“The King government needs to immediately and clearly communicate with all participants in the shellfish industry, providing frequent and regular updates on any rule changes and new protocols, and ensuring that CFIA moves quickly with continued MSX testing and data updates with clear direction to producers and processors,” MacFarlane is quoted as saying in the release.

“Government also needs to commit to ready financial support for those in affected areas shut down by positive test samples — and ensure that harvesters will not be made to wait for years to see this support.”

A spokesperson for Cardigan MP Lawrence MacAulay, Prince Edward Island’s representative in the federal cabinet, said in an emailed statement that MacAulay is “deeply concerned” about the detection of MSX in Island oysters.

“The oyster industry is an integral and iconic part of the Island economy and countless Islanders depend on it to earn their living,” the statement reads.

“The Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada, the Province of P.E.I., and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency are working together to co-ordinate the response to and management of this disease, along with industry, processors, and harvesters, and implement controls to prevent the movement and spread of the disease.”