Officials and oyster industry return from Virginia with takeaways to navigate MSX

Taylor O'Brien · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 19, 2025 5:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 11 minutes ago

Provincial officials and oyster manufacture leaders returned from a travel to the U.S. authorities of Virginia past period with caller insights connected tackling the oyster parasite MSX.

MSX, oregon multinuclear sphere X, was archetypal detected successful Prince Edward Island waters successful July 2024. While the parasite is harmless to humans, it is deadly to oysters. 

Only a fewer areas were initially affected, but MSX has since been spreading astir the province's coastlines.

Kim Gill, the acting manager of aquaculture with the P.E.I. Department of Fisheries, Tourism, Sport and Culture, said a radical of astir 20 oyster manufacture and authorities officials travelled to Virginia to conscionable with manufacture members and researchers.

Virginia harvesters person been dealing with MSX for decades, truthful determination is simply a batch of expertise successful the region, Gill said. 

"I deliberation it was a truly bully accidental for everybody to larn unneurotic what they're doing successful the States and bring our position down to contiguous to them connected wherever we request help, wherever we could collaborate, small areas wherever we could larn from what they've done implicit the past 50-plus years," she said.

P.E.I.-Virginia narration to continue

While she thinks everyone who went to Virginia mightiness person a antithetic takeaway, Gill herself was impressed by the connection among assorted groups moving with MSX, specified arsenic manufacture members, researchers and authorities officials.

"They're precise successful tune with each other," Gill said.

"They pass constantly, they problem-solve together, and they usage their resources — which didn't seem, you know, utmost — but they usage them precise effectively. And due to the fact that of that, their manufacture is capable to benignant of support rolling on with producing oysters."

Gill said she is inactive "blown away" by however transparent and collaborative the squad successful Virginia was with the Island delegation. 

"They threw their doors open," she said. "They answered each question abbreviated of, you know, giving america the concealed look to the concealed sauce. We got everything. They answered each question."

Gill said the state is moving to make and foster relationships with different authorities officials and researchers, including those astatine the University of North Carolina.

She said the narration betwixt P.E.I. and Virginia volition continue, and hopes immoderate researchers from the authorities volition travel to the Island this summertime during the highest harvesting period.

Task unit said to beryllium moving well

In January, Gill told a legislative lasting committee that the state has acceptable up an MSX task unit successful conjunction with the national Department of Fisheries and Oceans.

Gill said the task force's extremity is to stock accusation among some levels of authorities and manufacture members, including representatives from oyster fishers, aquaculture growers and the P.E.I. Seafood Association and Oyster Processors Association.

She said the task unit meets play for "very, precise good, honorable discussions" and has worked good truthful far.

"We're each precise acrophobic astir what perchance could hap with industry. So we've been precise lockstep, I would say, successful our approaches to mitigating immoderate effects… uncovering wherever determination [are] interaction points and addressing them," Gill said.