MSX: P.E.I. oyster industry calls for help over parasite [Video]

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.”

MSXtargets 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 …