By Janet Krenn
Virginia oyster growers and researchers found that simply moving oysters to saltier waters before harvest is just as effective at reducing Vibrio as more costly treatment methods, such as high-pressure treatment or low-dose radiation. Local growers secured research funding through Virginia Sea Grant’s partner Fishery Resource Grant Program and may have found an alternative treatment that could save time, money, and jobs.
Treating oysters to eliminate Vibrio, a bacterium that causes sickness in humans, is important to oyster growers around the U.S., especially since the Food and Drug Administration implemented regulations to require oyster treatment for oysters from the Gulf of Mexico. Although there’s no such regulation for Chesapeake Bay oysters, local growers want to stay ahead of the issue and find treatment methods that prove effective and efficient compared to the expensive post harvest treatments currently used. This method of moving oysters between salty waters, called oyster relay, could help keep the cost of treatment down, while keeping oysters safe to eat.
This is just one of more than 80 projects that has been funded by the Virginia Fishery Resource Grant Program, which was founded on the “basic principle… that people in the industry often have valid ideas for enhancing and protecting fisheries, but they lack the financial resources to experiment with innovations.”
Read more about the oyster relay treatment.
Learn more about the Virginia Fishery Resource Grant Program.
