Vibrio species are a notorious pest in all aquaculture systems, producing significant losses in productivity. However, the problem still persists today because the causative agents and associated virulence factors have not been adequately identified and, because little is known about environmental conditions that cause the pathogen(s) to proliferate. Supply of oyster spat is currently failing to meet demand consistently in Australia, with Australian hatcheries only producing seed for the local market of approximately 250 million a year compared to a world market in excess of 10 billion oyster seed. Solving this problem will allow Australian oyster hatcheries to design and implement effective risk management systems, thus increasing supply to expand national and international markets. In addition, the aquaculture industry needs greater human capability and capacity to manage disease in aquaculture operations.

Relevance to industry priorities and Seafood CRC milestones
The associated Program and theme is within Production Innovation – Program Manager Dr Graham Mair - Outcome: Increased profitability and industry value through production innovation.

Specific output and associated milestones include:

1.3 Output: Removal or reduction of key production constraints in selected aquaculture systems
1.3.3 Milestone: Strategic disease management approaches and technologies developed for at least two aquaculture species
1.3.5 Milestone: Production efficiency gains from genetic, health management and nutritional interventions quantified to inform long-term strategies and estimate commercial benefits