MSX disease challenges Maine's lucrative Damariscotta River oyster farms

摘要

Oyster farmers on the Damariscotta River in f ^ Ft Maine are gathering forces to cope with their kISiJ most formidable challenge since Juvenile Oyster Disease spread throughout the river in the 1990s. Late last summer, MSX (Haplosporidium nehont) wasdiscovered to be the culprit in widespread mortalities among American oysters {Crassostrea virginica) grown along the river, where the harvest from approximately 27 leases produces over half the states multi-million dollar cultivated oyster industry.