Haskin NEH® Oyster Seed VA

Disease resistant brood stock developed from Crassostrea virginica, Eastern oysters, bred at Haskin Shellfish Research Laboratory, Rutgers University.

The Rutgers Oyster Breeding Program targets four traits of aquacultural importance: disease resistance, growth, shell shape and general hardiness.

For each generation, the largest oysters with nice shell shape that survived three years of exposure to MSX, Dermo and harsh intertidal conditions are selected to produce the next generation.
Genetic diversity, which is critical for oyster breeding and performance, is maintained through progressive rotational crossing of multiple lines and by controlled introduction of new genetic material.
Two disease resistant strains have been released to the oyster industry, one of them is the Haskin NEH® strain which is derived from Long Island Sound populations and shows improved growth and survival throughout the Northeastern region.

• Haskin NEH® performs well in most high salinity sites of 20ppt to 34ppt in the Northeastern region.
• This stock has been selectively bred for MSX resistance since 1960,
• for Dermo resistance since 1990
• and for growth and shell attributes since 1998.

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 aquaculture 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.