![]() "The only hope for the industry is a better understanding of the disease, better genetics and in the meantime, growing alternatives. "This disease of Pacific Oysters is unlike any other animal disease in Australia, with such a high mortality rate and the inability to restock a farm as it returns," Dr Whittington said. New Zealand has suffered substantial oyster losses from POMS and is trying to recover its industry.ĭr Whittington, veterinary lead at the Aquatic Animal Health team at Sydney University, said the disease could have arrived in Tasmanian waters from ocean currents, as ships' ballast or in recreational boats. POMS is present in Spain, the Netherlands and is now progressively spreading to Denmark. The disease outbreak in Pacific oyster farms along the Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts of France "destroyed half the industry and it has never recovered", according to Australian expert Dr Richard Whittington. The first reported outbreak of POMS was in France in 2008. POMS research indicates that outbreaks are temperature dependent, with a higher water temperature increasing the risk. It kills up to 80 per cent of oysters between 12 months and two years old, and 50 per cent of adult oysters over four years old. POMS causes 100 per cent mortality in juvenile Pacific Oysters, or spats. The virus weakens the oyster, causing the valves to open, and they die within hours. Host-specific to the Pacific, or Crassostrea gigas, it does not affect Sydney Rock Oysters, mussels, scallops, pearl oysters or the native Angasi oyster. POMS is caused by the virus OsHV-1 micro variant. Within 36 hours they were all gone." How does POMS affect Pacific oysters? "Collectively as a group, we probably had about 10 million juveniles we had just put in the water," he said. Survival rates at the low salinity site (Fish River Reef) ranged from 42 to 62 for spat set on whole shell after 32 weeks. Then in January 2013, POMS struck oyster farms on the Hawkesbury River north of Sydney, destroying millions of dollars worth of livestock.įarmer Bruce Alford said the speed of the disease in the Hawkesbury River had taken oyster farmers completely by surprise. Subscribe for the national headlines of the day. Within three months it had spread to the Parramatta River in western Sydney. POMS was first discovered in the New South Wales Georges River south of Sydney in November 2010. Response to selection for survival and its influence on growth and yield. The race is on to breed a resistant species, with researchers still two years off delivering that outcome. Summer mortality of hatchery-produced Pacific oyster spat (Crassostrea gigas). The present study analyzed spatio-temporal variation in growth, condition and mortality in spat, and half-grown and market-sized oysters reared from. Three hatcheries in Tasmania normally supply 90 per cent of the Pacific oyster spat in Australia. Its discovery in Tasmania has brought the industry to a standstill, with no movement of oyster spats from hatcheries to New South Wales or South Australia. ![]() The disease was first discovered in Australia in 2010 after an outbreak in France in 2008. Jenkins C, Hick P, Gabor M, Spiers Z, Fell S, Gu X, Read A, Go J, Dove M, O’Connor W, Kirkland P, Frances J (2013) Identification and characterisation of an ostreid herpesvirus-1 microvariant (OsHV-1 µ-var) in Crassostrea gigas (Pacific oysters) in Australia.Pacific Oyster Mortality Syndrome (POMS) is lethal only to Pacific oysters and kills them within hours of detection.Paul-Pont I, Evans O, Dhand NK, Rubio A, Coad P, Whittington RJ (2014) Descriptive epidemiology of mass mortality due to Ostreid herpesvirus-1 (OsHV-1) in commercially farmed Pacific oysters ( Crassostrea gigas) in the Hawkesbury River estuary, Australia.Hick P, Evans O, Looi R, English C, Whittington RJ (2016) Stability of Ostreid herpesvirus-1 (OsHV-1) and assessment of disinfection of seawater and oyster tissues using a bioassay.Aquaculture Environment Interactions 8:419-428 de Kantzow M, Hick P, Becker JA, Whittington RJ (2016) Effect of water temperature on mortality of Pacific Oysters Crassostrea gigas associated with microvariant ostreid herpesvirus 1 (OsHV-1 µVar).Whittington RJ, Liu O, Hick PM, Dhand N, Rubio A (2019) Long-term temporal and spatial patterns of Ostreid herpesvirus 1 (OsHV-1) infection and mortality in sentinel Pacific oyster spat ( Crassostrea gigas) inform farm management.King WL, Siboni N, Williams NLR, Kahlke T, Nguyen KV, Jenkins C, Dove M, O’Connor W, Seymour JR, Labbate M (2019) Variability in the composition of Pacific Oyster microbes across oyster families exhibiting different levels of susceptibility to OsHV-1 µvar disease.Petton B, Destoumieux-Garzon D, Pernet F, Toulza E, de Lorgeril J, Degremount L, Mitta G (2021) The Pacific Oyster Mortality Syndrome, a polymicrobial and multifactorial disease: state of knowledge and future directions.
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