Gimepec Do pesticides play a role in oyster mortality?

The GIMEPEC project is studying the role which chemical contamination of Pacific oysters’(Crassostrea gigas) environment could play in summer mortality episodes.

As part of this experimental approach, the oysters will be exposed to herbicides currently used in agriculture during the period of gametogenesis, the process of forming reproductive cells. The project will study the effects of these herbicides during this sensitive phase of the oysters’ embryo-larval development, as well as the possible transmission of genetic modifications to their descendants.

This study will be conducted on the Fouras site (in the Marennes-Oléron basin), and the site’s level of contamination with trace metals, organic pollutants and pesticides will be determined using different matrices.

The results of this research project will increase knowledge of the toxic effects of pesticides on oysters, and contribute to a better understanding of summer mortality episodes.