“Snow crab is the second biggest fishery in Atlantic Canada,” explains Dr. Rick Cawthorn, Professor of Parasitology at UPEI’s AVC. “So if the crabs are infected with a disease that makes it taste as bitter as Aspirin, you’ve got a real problem.”
Cawthorn is leading an international team of researchers in a project to better understand Bitter Crab Disease, or BCD. He explains the disease is spread by a parasite called Hematodinium, which currently infects more than 40 species of crustaceans worldwide, several of which are commercially important.
Hematodinium: parasite marked with "P"
“We’re not looking in this study at the source of the taste--why the disease creates a bitter taste,” says Cawthorn. “What we’re looking at are questions such as how common is this parasite in Atlantic Canada? How is the parasite transmitted from crab to crab? How does it cause the disease?”
Cawthorn says the parasite and its associated disease were first described in the 1930s in Europe. It wasn’t discovered in Atlantic Canadian waters until the early 1990s.
“It’s an extremely temperature-tolerant parasite,” says Cawthorn. “It’s found in cold water, cool water, and even warm water. That said, we believe climate change has an influence on the spread of this parasite and disease. Warmer waters in the snow crab’s habitat create stress in the animal, which makes it much more susceptible to infection.”
Learn more about Dr. Cawthorn’s research at UPEI’s Research Breakfast, Wednesday, December 9th at the Rodd Charlottetown. He will give a presentation entitled, “Is Your Snow Crab Bitter? Implications for the Snow Crab Fishery in Atlantic Canada.” Breakfast begins at 7:30 a.m. and costs $10. For more information, contact Jane McKay at (902) 566-0307 or jmckay@upei.ca.
