Modelling the influence of the environment on the interannual variabilityin biological performances of the Pacific oyster Crassostrea gigas cultivated in the Baie des Veys estuary (France)

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Massive oyster mortalities were brought back throughout the world since 1940. Variable according to years mortalities can reach 50 % of cultivated oysters. The “Baie des Veys”, located on the French coast of the English Channel, is an open estuary and intertidal ecosystem (37 km2) which is influenced by four rivers and sustains an important oyster farming activity (10 500 tons). In this ecosystem, some year to year differences in the phytoplankton dynamics and in the biological performances of cultivated oysters were observed. Recent works showed a significant correlation between oyster mortalities and river flows. The aim of this work was to assess the influence of environmental factors such as watershed supplies or meteorological variations on the inter-annual variability of oyster physiological status