Report of the Working Group on Marine Shellfish Culture (WGMASC)

• ToR a) Stress indicators in shellfish and how they may be used to diagnose incidents of cultured shellfish mortality (Section 4; linkages to MCC, ACME, WGPDNO, WGEIM)

• The group proposed a framework directed at farmers and aquaculture managers within which information on a range of potential stressors that act on shellfish populations could be combined with observations on the response of the animals. Additional information requirements that could elucidate the cause(s) of shellfish mortality were recommended. The framework strongly encourages the inclusion of the shellfish farmer in the information generation and assessment process.

• The importance of baseline/background environmental data was highlighted in addition to broader considerations (temporal and spatial scale issues).

• It was concluded that in order to fully determine the causes of mortality, a pragmatic framework must be employed encompassing an initial simple approach that accumulates and assesses information from general stress indicators and, when necessary, employs more sophisticated tools. The compilation of all diagnostic and available environmental information is an important outcome of this approach that permits all the information to be assessed together and not in isolation. The process needs to be delegated to competent agencies such that conclusions can be drawn from all of the information and appropriate mitigation measures can be recommended.