Tools to Remediate Summer Mortality Disease Losses

Daniel Cheney and Ralph Elston, Pacific Shellfish Institute, and Carolyn S. Friedman, School of Aquatic & Fishery Sciences, University of Washington

R/F-154

Pacific oyster summer mortalities are a recurring problem in the U.S., Japan, France and Mexico, causing significant economic hardship for oyster growers in these countries.  Through laboratory work and field studies, this project will test the general hypothesis that a relatively small number of genes control resistance to summer mortality disease.  It will also evaluate selected environmental parameters and observations that appear to predict increased summer mortality risk and determine how genetic variation may interact with the suite of stress conditions associated with summer mortality.  These efforts may lead to the development of mortality-resistant lines of oysters for broodstock use by the shellfish industry on the north Pacific Ocean coast.