

Consequently, early oyster recruitment was effectively eliminated, as evidenced by the lack of spat settlement across the entire oyster metapopulation of western Mississippi Sound. In 2019, oyster spawning stocks were completely decimated throughout the western Mississippi Sound region by unprecedented freshwater discharge from the Bonnet Carré spillway. Spat density, mortality, size, and inferred growth varied on temporal, subregional, and microhabitat scales. Moreover, variability in spat metrics from settlement samples implied potential post-settlement limitation in 2018. Thus, substrate limitation was inferred to be the primary limitation to early oyster recruitment in 2018. Predicted cumulative mortality for spat on DOY 337 (median day of the end of the monitoring) ranges from 0 to 0.9 and has strongly increased since 2008 (Fig. But the supply of larvae from outside the affected reefs was sufficient to provision spat to restored and reference sites within the 2018 study area. The rate of oyster mortality due to OsHV-1 microvar when water temperature exceeds 16 ☌ (end of April) has been observed to be dependent upon oyster size (higher mortality among smaller spat) and the duration of the acclimation period (higher mortality among young oysters transferred to long-line farms in April or later) (Roncarati et al. Effects of a mortality event which eliminated the oyster spawning stock biomass from two major oyster reefs of western Mississippi Sound in 2016 carried over to the 2018 recruitment period. Substrate limitation, recruitment limitation and post-settlement limitation each played key roles in limiting the recovery of the eastern oyster, Crassostrea virginica (Gmelin 1791) within western Mississippi Sound between 20. Non-specific mortality of spat was relatively common, therefore tests for OsHV-1 should be applied in field trials to distinguish mortality due to OsHV-1 from other causes of mortality.In addition to suitable substrate, successful oyster recruitment requires an adequate supply of planktonic larvae, followed by the subsequent survival and growth of early post-settlement stages. Use of sentinel oysters for surveillance for OsHV-1 can be effective, but the clustering of exposure at all scales renders this more reliable at estuary level rather than at bay or site level and it requires an intensive sampling program.
#Oyster spat mortality rate windows
These consistent epidemiological patterns of infection and mortality will enable strategic placement of susceptible oysters in these estuaries at certain locations and within specific time windows with predicted low risk of mortality due to OsHV-1 water temperature monitoring may be used to predict this risk. Mortality due to OsHV-1 commenced when the mean water temperature rose above approximately 20 ☌ in spring, which is 4–5 ☌ warmer than the initiation threshold in Europe. There were no biologically significant differences in the growth of spat that subsequently died due to OsHV-1 infection and those that survived. In 2016–17, there was a trend of better survival in selected spat with potential genetic resistance to OsHV-1 compared to unselected spat. Fifteen different batches of spat were used and mortality due to OsHV-1 occurred in all but three both triploid and diploid spat were affected. Different outcomes were sometimes seen between spat in paired baskets that were 1 to 100 m apart at the same site, attributable to differential exposure to OsHV-1 (clustering).

Mortality due to OsHV-1 was observed in sentinel spat at 14 of 15 sites but not at every site in every season.

There was a significant reduction in mortality due to OsHV-1 as well as subclinical infection with OsHV-1 between 2012––17, and viral loads in infected oysters also appeared to decline after 2012–13. However, subclinical infections with OsHV-1 that did not progress to mortality were detected from early October until late June. Mortality was most widespread and frequent between December and April and was not observed prior to late October or after May. Mortality due to OsHV-1 was observed each summer season but was significantly more likely in the Georges than the Hawkesbury River estuary. Spat were deployed and sampled regularly between 20 at 15 sites in two large estuaries and the times of OsHV-1 exposure and mortality were identified at weekly to monthly intervals. The objectives of this study were to determine the seasonal limits of transmission of OsHV-1, the spatial distribution of the virus, the seasonal water temperatures associated with OsHV-1 transmission and disease and the suitability of active surveillance for OsHV-1 using sentinel oysters. Disease due to Ostreid herpes virus − 1 (OsHV-1) is a major constraint to farming the Pacific oyster Crassotrea gigas in Europe and Australasia, requiring new management strategies.
