In the meantime, here's an article that popped up yesterday:...

In the meantime, here's an article that popped up yesterday:

http://www.portlincolntimes.com.au/story/5236976/oyster-assistance-welcome-relief/

The $2.6-million recovery package announced last week for the oyster industry – in particular the suspension of oyster lease and licence fees for the next two years – will be welcomed by local growers and take some of the pressure off an industry that is seriously suffering.


It is not a cure-all but it will make things easier for the people struggling to keep their businesses going without enough spat to generate the income they are used to.

Hopefully it will mean leaseholders can afford to keep employees on rather than being forced to add to the 70 plus jobs that have already been lost as a result of the spat shortage.

Well done to the growers, their peak body the South Australian Oyster Growers Association (SAOGA) and member for Flinders Peter Treloar for keeping the pressure on the state government to provide some assistance.

There has already been support for new and existing hatcheries to boost spat supplies and cement the South Australian industry’s self-sufficiency into the future but financial support for the growers themselves who are dealing with the existing shortage was a little slower coming.

However it is finally here, albeit two years on from the initial importation ban on spat from Tasmania into SA, after the outbreak of Pacific Oyster Mortality Syndrome.

With industry going through some of its toughest times yet, the hard part is by no means over but hopefully this recovery package offers some light at the end of the tunnel for growers, their employees, their families and an industry that is so valuable to our region.