Resources Database

Intended to help prospective farmers to identify, record, monitor, and manage production hazards, and ultimately minimize production-related risk. Discusses types of risk in aquaculture, record keeping, environmental conditions, biofouling organisms, predators, diseases, parasites, invasive species, and operational procedures.

ShellGIS is a desktop-based software tool that, for the choice of 14-commonly cultured shellfish species, enables dynamic predictions of shellfish production, environmental effects, and profitability according to culture practice and site selection within a given GIS domain.

Fact sheet designed to try to improve the growers knowledge on the process to contact a professional who can examine dead or dying shellfish to determine the cause and how to get the shellfish to them for analysis.

Fact sheet on Dermo disease, Perkinsus marinus, and MSX disease, Haplosporidium nelsoni, including geographic distribution, history, biology, epizootiology, environmental influences, control measures, and diagnostic methods.

Reviews harmful algae blooms including conditions for biotoxin formation, detection, management, and common types of HAB's in the northeast.

Overview of mussels nutritional value and their biology.

Use this to create your own farm-specific Best Management Practices (BMP) document use this template, a Microsoft Excel file in macro format.

Explores husbandry and equipment solutions to infestations of Polydora websteri, a marine polychaete worm, on a Maine oyster farm.

Intended for a novice farmer to give a overview of oyster farming topics such as oyster biology, site selection, rearing methods, spat supply, and production plans.

Overview of popular finfish and shellfish aquaculture systems (husbandry & gear) used in the northeast including bottom culture, near bottom culture, water column culture, surface culture, hatchery land-based systems.

A brief introduction to current commercial production species, potential commercial species, and experimental species including the hard clam (quahog), eastern oyster, blue mussel, softshell clam, macroalgae, bay scallop, European oyster, surf clam, sea scallop, and more.

Questions to ask when beginning to consider different overwintering oysters options.

Fact sheet on juvenile oyster disease (JOD) including background on the disease and etiological agent, known geographical range, host species, epizootiology, signs of disease, diagnostic procedures, procedures for transportation, and storage of samples.

Reviews the importance of recording growth and environmental data, estimating number of seed, and provides template data sheets to record this information.

Fact sheet on factors causing pathological changes in oysters, categories of bivalve pathology, preventative care information, and factors regulating oyster stock density.

Fact sheet on roseovarius oyster disease (ROD), previously known as juvenile oyster disease (JOD) including infection, mortality, resistance, and how to determine if an oyster is infected.

Fact sheet on MSX, caused by a single‐celled Protozoan parasite Haplosporidium nelsoni, including transmission, history, epizootic, resistance, infection, mortality, and management.

Fact sheet on dermo disease, caused by a single‐celled Protozoan parasite Perkinsus marinus, including transmission, environmental factors, stages of the infection, and how to determine if oysters are infected.

If you're thinking about farming mussels, either as a sideline or the main chance, this booklet is designed to help you make decisions.This booklet reviews mussel raft culture in the Gulf of Maine, The Mussel Raft Project, Predators, storms and moorings, Mussel biology, Selecting a site, Steps in culturing mussels, Outreach, applied research, Sales and marketing , Getting into business, Planning a mussel business, Training and information, Leases and permits, Suppliers, and provides further reading suggestions.

Reviews common diseases of marine bivalves such as MSX, dermo, juvenile oyster disease, bonamiasis, hemic neoplasia, gonadal neoplasia, and QPX, and available means for preventing or minimizing their impacts.

In-depth review of the natural history and distribution, transmission, diagnostic methods, environmental influences, control measures, and management recommendations for MSX disease and dermo disease on oyster stocks.