Rutgers University has a long history in shellfish breeding. The breeding program was initiated by Dr. Harold Haskin in 1960 to breed eastern oysters for resistance to MSX (multinucleated sphere X caused by protozoan Haplosporidium nelsoni) disease. The development of MSX resistance was rapid, and significant improvement was achieved after five generations of selection, with selected oysters surviving 8.8 times better than the susceptible control. Dermo disease (caused by protozoan Perkinsus marinus) appeared in Delaware Bay in 1990 and since then, selection for dermo resistance became a priority. In 1998, fast growth and shell shape were added as target traits for eastern oyster breeding. Over the years, new genetic materials were incorporated multiple times to maintain genetic diversity in selected lines. Two disease-resistant eastern oyster strains were developed and released to the industry: Haskin NEH® derived from Long Island Sound and Haskin DBX derived from Delaware Bay. The two strains have demonstrated fast growth and strong resistance to MSX and Dermo. In 1993, the breeding program developed tetraploid technologies for the production of triploid oysters, which have been widely used by oyster farmers in the US and globally. Recently, genomic selection was applied to improve dermo resistance in the eastern oyster, which demonstrated higher efficiency than traditional selective breeding. The breeding program has also expanded to include bay scallops and hard clams. For bay scallops, selection targeted fast growth with the goal of producing a crop that can be harvested within the year. For hard clams, genomic selection is being tested for improving field survival under QPX (Quahog Parasite Unknown) disease or heat stress.
The shellfish breeding program is supported by three Rutgers facilities. The Haskin Shellfish Research Laboratory at Port Norris, NJ is the main lab where most of the genetic analyses take place. The Cape Shore Laboratory in North Cape May is the main breeding station for the eastern oyster that consists of a research hatchery and an experimental farm. The Cape Shore Farm is intertidal with moderate salinity (18 – 22) where oysters are exposed to MSX, Dermo and thermal stress (-5 to 40 C), an ideal environment for breeding disease resistance and environmental resilience. The New Jersey Aquaculture Innovation Center (NJAIC) also in North Cape May provides support for breeding high-salinity species such as bay scallops and hard clams. The NJAIC is a commercial scale hatchery that produces seeds for shellfish farmers in New Jersey and the region.