South Coast oyster farms,including Natural Oyster Co,were inundated by rainfall last week,affecting oyster supplies.Credit:Brendan Tye
Every estuary south of Sydney is closed for harvesting after heavy rainfall and floods smashed the area last week,when some areas received 250-300 millimetres. Porters Creek received the most rainfall in 24 hours with 351mm,while Jervis Bay recorded 226.8mm of rain and Moruya had 225mm.
Industry support officer Anna Simonds from Sapphire Coast Wilderness Oysters,a group on the South Coast that supports producers,said the current harvesting shutdown would be the biggest Christmas oyster shortage in some time.
“”The current situation on the south coast leaves a significant shortfall in the market,and a missed opportunity for many local farmers who will likely lose their lucrative Christmas sales. But on the flip side,many north coast estuaries are open and this should present them with a great opportunity to fill the shortfall after also enduring a tough few years,” she said.
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Kelly Jones,co-owner of Natural Oyster Co,located in Pambula,said logs and debris were washed into their oyster leases,which will take weeks to clean up. Salinity levels will also be affected,so oysters cannot be harvested until water returns to normal.
“We won’t be selling oysters before Christmas,” Jones said.
She added it will take some time for them to do water-sampling and quality assurance to ensure the oysters are 100 per cent,which means they’ll be closed until early next year,like many oyster farmers in the region.