Microbe undermines prized oyster supply
Michael Milstein
The Oregonian
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
PORTLAND -- An invisible microbe that thrives in warm ocean water has undermined the Northwest's prized oyster supply, killing billions of young larvae that mature into the succulent shellfish known across the world.
The bacterium, Vibrio tubiashii, is related to another species that can sicken people who eat raw shellfish. This one doesn't bother people. It kills shellfish in their larval stage, before they latch onto rocks to grow.
An explosion of the microbe late last summer shut down an Oregon shellfish hatchery that is one of the largest on the West Coast, supplying larvae to about 70 oyster growers the way seed companies provide crop seed to farmers.
The microbe also is the likely culprit in the disappearance of recent generations of wild oysters from usually prolific estuaries such as Willapa Bay on the southern Washington coast.
"We're in a state of panic," said Robin Downey, executive director of the Pacific Coast Shellfish Growers Association, based in Olympia. "There is no other word for it."
The crisis has the attention of local and state leaders, including the governor.
And scientists have rushed to devise filters that can strain the lethal bacterium out of water flowing through hatcheries.
© The Vancouver Sun 2008
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