Are you sure you want to remove campaign "Native oysters"?
Native oysters
How native oyster aquaculture and restoration can enhance each other
One of the main considerations, before restoration and aquaculture activities of native oysters are set in motion,is the presence of the Bonamia ostreaprotozoa. Bonamia is believed to have been introduced in Europe through movements of oysters from California (Compsetal.1980). When introduced to naïve populations, bonamia can cause over 90% mortality by multiplying in the oyster’s haemocytes (Cullotyetal.2007). The Berlin declaration by the Nativ eOyster Restoration Alliance (NORA2017) States ‘Respectf or bonatnia-free areas ’as one of the six main restoration recommendations. An evaluation of the ‘Spuikom’, a historic
in shore oyster production site in Ostend, Belgium showed presence of B. ostrea in2008 (VLIZ 2011). The vicinity of infected oyster populations, in for example the Oosterschelde, also increases the risk of B. ostrea outbreaks in Belgian maritime waters. Objective3 will therefore verify the presence of Bonamia in the BNS by evaluating offshore and nearshore spat specimen of O. edulis (i), bottomsamples (ii) vectorspecies (iii) and watersamples (iv). Watersamples will be analysed on the presence of bonamia DNA particles, using the novel environmental DNA (eDNA) technique.