PEISome P.E.I. companies say they are going to stop buying oysters, and others are putting limits on how many they will buy, saying there’s too much risk because of the high mortality rates from MSX.After 14 months of waiting, fishers say they need government support nowJenna Banfield · CBC News · Posted: Oct 07, 2025 5:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 2 hours agoP.E.I.’s wild oyster season is set to close November 30th, but some fishers are stopping early, saying they have no choice when buyers stop buying. (Aaron Adetuyi/CBC)Some P.E.I. companies say they are going to stop buying oysters, and others are putting limits on how many they will buy, because of the threat of MSX. The parasite is harmless to humans, but deadly to oysters — which are dying while companies are waiting to sell them. The move to stop or limit buying has many Island oyster fishers expressing frustration about lack of support, and worrying they will not make enough money to qualify for employment insurance over the winter.”It broke my heart cause I’ve seen people in the water crying, said ‘how can we get our stamps? We don’t have our stamps, going to be a long winter,'” said Robert Bernard, a Percival River oyster farmer who’s been in the business for about 12 years. “I said I know what it’s like cause I said I’m not going to qualify this year.”Bernard is among the oyster fishers on P.E.I. who are expressing fear and frustration over the fallout from MSX, including high mortality rates for oysters, and buyers setting limits. (Aaron Adetuyi/CBC)Bernard said a significant number of oysters were dying throughout the season, which has led him to stop fishing early.Last year, he said he grossed a total of $160,000 by the end of August. He said this year that number is down to $6,200.”I never thought I’d see this in my life,” Bernard said. “I’m ashamed to say, but in the last month or so, I didn’t know if I should buy gas to go to work or buy groceries, it’s coming down to that now.””We’re all in survival, we’re trying to survive.”WATCH | P.E.I. oyster fishers ‘feeling pain’ as companies stop buying because of risk from diseaseP.E.I. oyster fishers ‘feeling pain’ as companies stop buying because of risk from diseaseP.E.I. oyster fishers are voicing fear and frustration as companies stop buying or put limits on what they will buy, due to the high mortality rates from MSX. After 14 months of waiting, the fishers say they need government support now, especially as many worry about paying the bills this winter. CBC’s Nancy Russell reports. ‘We need immediate support’Burleigh Bros. Seafoods, based in East Bideford in Western P.E.I., recently announced they will be suspending oyster purchases because there’s too much risk due to the high mortality rates from MSX.”It’s hard to… absorb all that risk when you don’t know what’s going to happen, you don’t know if all those oysters are going to die,” said Thomas Burleigh, the company’s general manager. “A lot of people are feeling a lot of pain because of that. And it’s a shame that we have to take those steps,” Burleigh said. “It’s just frustrating. Like we’re trying to do what we can and we feel like there’s nobody out here to support us.”Burleigh said his small family business is feeling a lot of pressure. “There’s only so much we can do, like, you know, it’s just reaching that point where it’s becoming unsustainable for us without some form of support.”Burleigh said he would like to see assistance from the government to help, among other things, ensure fishers can qualify for employment insurance. (Aaron Adetuyi/CBC)Burleigh says he would like to see some form of relief from the provincial and federal governments for both fishers and businesses.He would also like to see more funding for research to develop a seed that is resistant to MSX, which was first discovered in P.E.I. waters in July 2024. One year later, dermo, another highly damaging disease to the mollusks, was discovered in Egmont Bay. “We need immediate support in research and development, we need support in financing to make sure that we all don’t go under,” Burleigh said. “We need support in areas like employment insurance to make sure that fishers have enough to qualify.”Burleigh said it feels like everybody has turned a blind eye to what the industry is going through. “We’re at the point where, you know, our, our bank accounts are getting low… If we stop buying… then hundreds of people are gonna, you know, they’re gonna go bankrupt,” he said.”This whole community is gonna collapse. That’s what’s gonna happen. So, you know, like there’s only so much we can take. And if the government doesn’t step in, we can’t save the industry, right?”Wild oyster season is set to close on November 30th.ABOUT THE AUTHORJenna Banfield is an associate producer for CBC Prince Edward Island. She can be reached at jenna.banfield@cbc.caWith files from Nancy Russell
P.E.I. oyster fishers ‘feeling pain’ as companies stop buying due to risk from MSX
