A very high risk industry. Oysters are filter feeders and are so...

A very high risk industry. Oysters are filter feeders and are so reliant water quality.

The Tasmanian oyster growers thought they had it in the bag with their pristine water but got hit by a disease called POMS which wiped most of the industry out over night. They were able to breed an oyster that was somewhat resilient to this disease but most are still struggling to get back on their feet.

The South Australian industry were buying the majority of their young oyster spat from Tasmanian and due to the POMS outbreak and bio-security reasons the South Australian growers struggled to get spat product from Tassie until the South Australian growers started up their own spat nursery.

This POMS disease meant that seafood outlets across Australia were unable to get oysters to supply their restaurants. The farm gate price went from $6 per dozen up to $12 almost over night and most restaurants just took them off the menu and replaced them with mussels and calamari.

The Tassie farmers are now struggling to sell their stock because most of the international markets have closed down due to Covid. The local demand throughout Australia has been very slow also as the majority of food outlets are either closed or on limited trading.

Oysters are a product that have to be harvested and sold at the right size to make way for younger stock that is coming through the system. If not sold they grow beyond their desired size of 60 - 70mm. This then causes issues as the market for large oysters is very restricted and the freight costs are double.