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MSX, which is caused by haplosporidium nelsoni, decreases the growth rate of oysters and increases their death rate. Infected oysters are still safe for human consumption.

The UPEI project began in May.

Ladouceur leads the project with Madeleine Lafrenière, a UPEI biology honours student, and Pedro Quijón, professor of biology at UPEI, helping with the research.

The team is also working with Jesse Kerr, an aquaculture biologist from the province’s Department of Fisheries, Tourism, Sport and Culture.

The project team is analyzing the province’s oyster monitoring program, which the province’s aquaculture divisions have used for the last 12 years.

This year, the project will analyze data that may provide some answers on how P.E.I. oysters react to MSX disease.

The project team also recently received $25,000 from the Ocean Frontier Institute’s new community climate adaptation fund.

Research study

The oyster project at UPEI enables researchers to look at the conditions of both the environment and the populations that led up to the MSX disease event, said Ladouceur.

“We’ll be able to understand if we see positive trends of the water warming, of changes in salinity or changes in turbidity in the water, and then how the oyster populations, both wild as well as farmed, have responded year by year,” said Ladouceur.