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PROTOZOAL INFECTIONS OF THE EASTERN OYSTER (CRASSOSTREA VIRGINICA) IN THE UPPER CHESAPEAKE BAY: A POTENTIAL ECOLOGICAL FORECAST
Citation:
McLaughlin, S., S J. Jordan, AND F. Kern. PROTOZOAL INFECTIONS OF THE EASTERN OYSTER (CRASSOSTREA VIRGINICA) IN THE UPPER CHESAPEAKE BAY: A POTENTIAL ECOLOGICAL FORECAST. Presented at Eastern Fish Health Workshop, Atlantic Beach, NC, 3/22-26/2004.
Description:
Perkinsus marinus and Haplosporidium nelsoni cause devasting infections in populations of the eastern oyster, Crassostrea virginica, along the US Atlantic coast and Gulf of Mexico. Salinity and temperature are considered major controlling factors in the prevalence and infection intensity of these two parasites. Fishery managers and oyster growers use this relationship to make short term predictions of potential outbreaks of disease in oyster populations and to determine the best time, or sites, for planting and harvesting of oysters. Predicting medium or long term fluctuations in oyster disease in the Chesapeake Bay is limited by the inability to accurately predict medium and long term fluctuations in weather patterns such as occurrence and duration of drought conditions. Several mathematical models have been developed to assess the health of oyster populations in the Gulf fo Mexico and Chesapeake and Delaware bays. An impediment to the accuracy of mathematical models is the current gap in knowledge regarding the parasites, the host, and their interactions. A prototype population dynamics model was recently developed by Jordan and Coakley to predict outcomes of management options for resource restoration and fisheries enhancement. Sixteen years of Chesapeake Bay oyster disease and population data collected by Maryland Department of Natural Resources provide the basis of the model. The potential for using the Jordan and Coakley model to predict the effects of disease on oyster populations in the upper Chesapeake Bay is examined. Alternatives to the stock assessment or population dynamics modeling approach to predicting oyster disease will be discussed.