Sustainable Development of European SMEs
Engaged in Abalone Aquaculture

Have a look at the press coverage of the results symposium at Aber-Wrac'h, in Western Brittany,
on 20 October 2010
The orginal contributions are also available to download.

Press Releases and Publications

Marie-Agnès Travers, Olivier Basuyaux Nelly Le Goïc, Sylvain Huchette, Jean-Louis Nicolas, Marcel Koken, Christine Paillard
Summer immune depression associated with increased susceptibility of the European abalone, Haliotis tuberculata to Vibrio harveyi infection
in Fish & Shellfish Immunology 25 (2008) 800–808

Since 1998, Haliotis tuberculata mass mortalities have been occurring regularly in wild abalone populations in France during their reproductive period and in conjunction with seawater summer temperature maxima and Vibrio harveyi presence. To confirm the importance of bacterial exposure, temperature and reproductive status on abalone susceptibility, experimental infections via bath exposure were performed using abalones ranging from immature to reproductively mature. Ripe abalones were more susceptible to the bacterium than immature specimens (P < 0.001), and a difference of only 1°C in temperature had a highly significant impact on the mortalities (P < 0.001). The natural mortalities that were surveyed during summer 2007 confirmed that recent epidemic losses of European abalones appeared in conjunction with host reproductive stress, elevated temperatures and presence of the pathogen V. harveyi. In view of the elevation of the mean summer temperatures observed in Brittany and Normandy over the last 25 years, this temperature-dependent vibriosis represents a new case of emerging disease associated with global warming.