With millions of dead oysters and mounting debt, P.E.I. farmers fear they'll lose everything
Small farmers worry about big corporations taking over, as disease blights industry
When Kaila Richard is out on the water of her oyster farm in western P.E.I., she often thinks of her late father, who ran the farm until his sudden death in an accident in 2021.
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who → mount → 2021
“Being out here, I feel my father close,” said Kaila, who took over the farm in the Dock River, near Alberton, with her husband Bruce Richard.
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who → feel → husband
“[When] we make mistakes, I can hear my dad saying, 'What are yous doing?!' … and when things go right I'm like, ‘Oh he'd be so proud,’” she told CBC Radio’s The Current.
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she → make → Current
The Richards took out hefty loans to upgrade the farm in recent years, installing expensive new equipment and spending long days tending their crop.
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Richards → take → crop
But all that hard work is in jeopardy as two diseases rip through the Island’s oyster industry.
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diseases → rip → industry
Farmers have pulled up millions of dead oysters, their shells piled high around P.E.I.
“The whole island is just a massacre at this point,” said Bruce.
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Bruce → pull → point
“There's about a dozen farmers in this little section of river back here, and we're all in the same boat.
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we → be → boat
Everybody's seeing upwards of 90 per cent, 95 per cent dead loss.
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Everybody → see → loss
The diseases, multinucleate sphere unknown (MSX) and dermo, were detected in P.E.I. waters in 2024 and 2025, respectively.
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diseases → detect → 2024
While harmless to humans, both parasites are fatal to oysters, with some growers reporting 100 per cent mortality rates.
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growers → report → rates
The provincial and federal governments announced various support programs earlier this year, including financial relief, mental health support and approval for the import of disease-resistant oyster seed.
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governments → announce → seed
Experts hope this seed could be cultivated to replenish oyster stocks on the island,
uncertain
seed → hope → island
but the process takes at least three years to grow from seed, with no guarantee of success.
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process → take → success
Farmers say they need sustained financial support, and soon, to stay afloat in the interim.
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they → say → interim
“You can't hemorrhage money for three to five, [maybe] seven years … we don't have a million dollars sitting in the bank to make payments,” said Bruce, adding that at the time of his interview, his farm had not yet received any of the promised funding.
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farm → hemorrhage → funding
Jeff Noye, an oyster grower and the mayor of Tyne Valley in western P.E.I., said that oysters aren’t just a job on the island, but “a way of life.”
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oysters → say → life
He worries if farmers don’t get more help, bigger corporations could come in and take over.
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corporations → worry → help
Men and women who work for themselves, by themselves … and we take a lot of pride in that,” said Noye, who is also the co-owner of Valley Pearl Oysters bar and restaurant in Tyne Valley.
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who → work → Valley
But if those farmers can’t pay their bills, then “some of the companies with some big pockets can come in and snatch everything up,” he said.
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he → pay → everything
“All of a sudden we're all working for them — and I hope that doesn't happen.”
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that → work → them
Mussel farmers in the Maritimes faced a similar issue when invasive species upended the industry 20 years ago, said Peter Warris, executive director of P.E.I. Aquaculture Alliance.
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Warris → face → Alliance
We saw expenses were going up.
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expenses → see → ?
We saw more and more growers selling out — and selling out to the big guys,” he said.
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he → see → guys
In a lot of cases, he said, those same farmers were then hired by the big companies, who needed experienced workers, familiar with the waterways.
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who → say → waterways
“They're going to get paid by a bigger company rather than paying themselves.
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They → go → themselves
No,” he said.
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he → say → ?
I suppose, I mean I guess that's up to the individual.”
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that → suppose → individual
Warris’s organization represents both smaller farmers and bigger organizations.
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organization → represent → farmers
He wants greater financial support over the next few years, arguing it would both help individual farmers stay in business — and help the industry bounce back as a whole.
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industry → want → whole
In a statement emailed to The Current, Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) said it is working “to support the long-term sustainability of the oyster sector,” including investments in scientific research to better understand and respond to the parasites.
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it → email → parasites
DFO also pointed to a customer support program available through Farm Credit Canada (FCC).
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DFO → point → Canada
When contacted by The Current, FCC said in an email that it will work with individual farmers to explore their options, including the potential “deferral of principal payments and/or other loan payment schedule amendments to reduce the financial pressure on those affected by oyster diseases.”
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it → contact → diseases
“The bottom line is we want to remain flexible and ensure producers have sufficient cash flow to get into the next production cycle,” the FCC statement said.
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statement → want → cycle
In a separate email statement, P.E.I.’s Department of Fisheries, Rural Development and Tourism pointed The Current to a handful of programs designed to provide “a financial safety net to eligible oyster growers.”
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Department → point → growers
Warris worries this patchwork of programs might not be enough.
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patchwork → worry → programs
“There's no basic level of income support for growers right now and … there's fuel costs, wage costs, all these other things,” he said.
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he → be → growers
“Whilst there are programs out there for some of it, there isn't anything that will just give some basic income to keep people moving for the next three years.”
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that → be → years
Warris said that with so much uncertainty, some farmers might decide to sell to bigger operations.
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farmers → say → operations
But financial support would mean they won’t “have to sell at fire-sale prices.”
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they → mean → prices
Government is ‘giving up’
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Government → give → ?
…and 22 more, not listed.
