Oysters were a feature on many festive menus, making the lead-up to Christmas and New Year a hectic period for Tasmania’s oyster growers.
Now 2018 has begun and people are starting to head back to work, oyster growers are taking some time to relax.
The rain deluge in early December forced many oyster leases to close for up to five days, but then it was all hands on deck to harvest before Christmas, Oysters Tasmania executive officer Sue Grau said.
“Closing for three to five days doesn’t sound like a lot, but at that time of year it is,” Ms Grau said.
“That meant growers were harvesting more in the lead up to Christmas.”
Many East Coast producers have stopped harvesting for now, but some in the North and North West are still going.
“Oysters start spawning soon and then come back on at Easter,” Ms Grau said.
The good news for Tasmanian oyster growers and consumers alike is that there has not been any further Pacific Oyster Mortality Syndrome (POMS) incidents since the unseasonally warm weather in November.
“POMS hasn’t come back as yet. There were early cases in November, but we haven’t had the right weather conditions [for a POMS outbreak] since,” Ms Grau said.
Tasmanian growers produced smaller numbers of oysters for the 2017/18 season due to recovery from the 2016 and 2017 POMS outbreaks and a spate of algal blooms.
Some growing areas were closed for up to 10 weeks earlier in the season due to the algal blooms.
Once summer has finished and oyster growers have reported on their seasons, Oysters Tasmania can give a more definitive response on the affect of POMS for 2017/18, Ms Grau said.
POMS was first seen in Australia when New South Wales oyster growers reported the virus in 2010.
Tasmanian oyster leases were not affected by POMS until late 2015, with high oyster mortalities reported at a Pitt Water lease in the South East in January 2016.
Northern oyster growing areas – Sea Elephant Bay, Montague, Duck Bay, Big Bay, Port Sorell and Moulting Bay – are free of POMS.
There is there is little or no evidence of the virus in the Huon-Channel area, Norfolk Bay and Great Oyster Bay, but the Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment department advises there is a risk the disease could be introduced.
POMS affected areas are Little Swanport, Blackman Bay, Pitt Water, Island Inlet and Pipe Clay Lagoon.
The department website said POMS does not affect humans and “healthy oysters can still be harvested and product being sold through retail outlets remains safe to eat”.
Johanna Baker-Dowdell
Johanna has more than 22 years experience as a journalist for newspapers, magazines and online publications.
Johanna has more than 22 years experience as a journalist for newspapers, magazines and online publications.
