Oyster Disease Research Program

For more than two decades, oyster populations in the Chesapeake Bay and along many parts of the Atlantic and Gulf coasts have been battered by Dermo or MSX, two parasitic diseases for which there is no known remedy. The inability of these populations to recover was 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 for developing techniques to combat oyster disease in order to improve restoration and stock enhancement. The program is administered by the National Sea Grant College Program.

Maryland Sea Grant, through competitive proposals, is supporting efforts to help 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 infestation
  
  
• 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. Restoring Oysters to U. S. Coastal Waters summarizes the program and highlights successful application of research efforts on the east and west coasts.

Find out more about our oyster research projects.