Amount Requested: - $1,500,000

The New England Shellfish Recovery Initiative has been established by the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) in Woods Hole, MA and the University of Maine’s Darling Marine Center (DMC), to help New England’s fishing communities, which have been severely impacted by plummeting shellfish and oyster harvests.  

This ongoing project aims to develop selectively-bred oysters with improved growth and disease resistance to meet the growing demand for cultured oysters while preserving New England’s coastal waters.  Development of these new oyster lines promises to safeguard employment for thousands of New England shellfish farmers as well as increase the number of jobs on expanded shellfish farms. The eastern oyster industry alone supported a $48 million harvest in 1992.  It has since plummeted to a mere $3 million in 2004. The dramatic decline in local oyster production is due to habitat destruction, over-fishing, and the proliferation of various diseases such as JOD, Dermo, and MSX which are poorly understood.

Government funded research into shellfish disease is inadequate and will be augmented by this project.  The project is designed to create jobs and boost employment in the shellfish industry, and help the economy of coastal communities.

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