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Exploring the resiliency of P.E.I. eastern oysters amid MSX

This article was written by Yutaro Sasaki and originally published by The Guardian on Nov 19, 2025. We are sharing the full text here for reference. All rights remain with the original publisher.

Researchers in P.E.I. are studying oysters in the wake of MSX in the province.

A team of researchers in P.E.I. is investigating changes in eastern oysters to understand their resilience and inform restoration efforts following the impact of MSX disease.

In an interview with The Guardian on Oct. 30, UPEI biology and climate change and adaptation assistant professor Emma Ladouceur said her team is examining the population changes of P.E.I.’s eastern oysters over time.

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.

As the province’s department of agriculture provides the team with the oyster data, the UPEI analyze it, she added.

The analysis takes place in Ladouceur’s lab at UPEI.

Process and importance

The preliminary findings are too early to comment on, said Ladouceur.

“Our students have been working all summer. And this year, we’re analyzing all the data,” she said.

The oyster project is vital as the team will be able to understand the conditions that led up to the MSX disease event in P.E.I. and the trends in the populations associated with it, Ladouceur added.

“We’ll also be able to do a deep dive into understanding immediately what’s happening this year. And that can point to potential management solutions or approaches that we could take to better help the industry,” she said.

Ladouceur is a restoration ecologist and her interests lie in how people can take management and restoration actions to support oyster populations in order for them to survive, including addressing factors related to disease.

“Records indicate that the wild populations of oysters were once much more widespread before initial over-harvesting happened in kind of early colonial times,” she said.

Source: The Guardian. Original article available here.

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Exploring the resiliency of P.E.I. eastern oysters amid MSX

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