DEBY Oyster Seed VA

Disease resistant and triploid oyster brood stocks produced under license with the College of William and Mary.  Breeding work by the Aquaculture Genetics and Breeding Technology Center (ABC) at Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS).

To make the sterile, robust, fast growing triploid, male tetraploid lines are used, also created and improved at ABC, to cross with the female diploid line, which yields triploids.

Mass selection was used as the principle means to attain disease resistance, by breeding survivors. Later, larger oysters were also selected. The resulting line, DEBY was one of two foundation lines of early releases of brood stock by ABC. Now, little selective pressure is applied to DEBY, the focus is maintenance of genetic health of the line.

• A medium to high salinity stock.
• MSX resistant and Dermo tolerant.  
• The ancestors of this stock are from Delaware Bay MSX resistant lines, but have been selected for disease resistance in York River for over 20 years.
• This stock is a good all around performer with a proven track record.

Shellfish growers have the ability to select from a number of lines that have shown their utility for various growing conditions in the mid Atlantic and similar growing environments. Finding the right one for you is ultimately a function of your specific farm conditions and grow out techniques and therefore a matter of trial and error. If you are currently using a particular line, and want to try another, try a small quantity of the new line before jumping ship. Whichever line you settle on, most people use the triploid version of it.

Seed sizes below are defined by the grading screen size on which the seed is retained, e.g. a 2mm seed is that which sits on a 2mm screen and is usually 4mm to 6mm in actual shell height.

First availability is in April for smaller seeds and May onwards for larger shells.