Market shortage placing demand on South Coast oyster farmers

Batemans Bay Oysters director Jim Yiannaros said market prices have been steadily increasing due to increased demand and supply shortages.

READ MORE:

He expects to sell out of product no later than February.

"We've had a very wet 18 months and because of all that fresh water we've experienced a lot of mortalities in our oysters," Mr Yiannaros said.

"Just when the river looked like it was going to clear up and the salinity started popping back in we got another 100mm of rain. The oysters are really resilient but we all experienced this rain, and some of them died. Then you throw the QX on top and all of a sudden you've got a shortage."

QX is the seasonal disease affecting Sydney rock oysters and, while safe for human consumption, kills the majority of oysters in an infected farm.

"Port Stevens has been the worst hit. It has completely wiped out the industry on the Hawkesbury, the Georges River and Nelson Bay," Mr Yiannaros said.

"And those areas are quite large producers of mature oysters."

Mr Yiannaros said a mortality rate of 60 per cent was high and that farmers around Port Stevens had reported losses of up to 95 per cent.

However, Eurobodalla and Far South Coast oyster farmers have so far been able to avoid the virus, which is thought to be connected to urban development.

"Different areas record different percentages but it's very, very high mortality rates," Mr Yiannaros said.

"It hit about 18 months ago and then again last year. Once it's in your water system it will come back and it will get you again the second time, and it will just keep coming back."

This market shortage has placed an extra demand on South Coast producers leading into Christmas.

"Whatever we've got we will sell out of by the end of February," Mr Yiannaros said.

"Clyde River and Greenwall Point are the only two rivers that farm Pacific oysters south of Sydney. They're great oysters even though they're not native, people who try them love them because they're farmed here, on our pristine waters."

He said demand for oysters at Christmas was high every year.

"However, because there is a shortage it's making it look as though the demand is higher this year," Mr Yiannaros said.

"It's not higher it's just because there's a shortage of oysters on the market."

The result of this has been a surge in the price of oysters coming out of the South Coast.

"There's not many out there so everyone is chasing them, which is pushing the prices up," Mr Yiannaros said.

"There's been two increases in the last six months. Farmgate plate was at $11 and it's now at $16. For retail the fair thing is to add $5 to the wholesale price but it depends on what people want to put on them."