Iconic Bluff oysters could be lost after parasite discovered on Stewart Island

Tuesday, 6 June 2017

Bluff meeting about the finding of Bonamia ostreae in two Big Glory Bay fisheries.

Southland's fishing community fear a parasite could decimate the iconic Bluff oyster, and they want urgent action taken.

At an emergency meeting in Bluff on Tuesday, members of the community said some fisheries could be lost if the parasite was allowed to spread.

Both Southland District Mayor Gary Tong and Invercargill Mayor Tim Shadbolt have said they would fight for fisheries to be represented at a government level after the detection of Bonamia ostreae at two Stewart Island oyster farms.

Southland District Mayor Gary Tong has offered to speak to government ministers, with Invercargill Mayor Tim Shadbolt, to get faster action to stop the spread of the parasite.

The Ministry for Primary Industries have been aware of the parasite in Stewart Island fisheries since May 24.

Karen Calder at the Bluff meeting about the finding of Bonamia ostreae.

Niwa fishery scientist Keith Michael said of three farms tested in Big Glory Bay, two were infected.

To date, ministry sampling had not found Bonamia ostreae in Bluff oysters in Foveaux Strait.

About 50 have attended a meeting about the finding of Bonamia ostreae in two Big Glory Bay fisheries, in Stewart Island.

However, Michael said the last time the strait was tested was in February.

Members of the audience say urgent action is needed before the oysters start to die - thus spreading the infection.

Bluff Community Board chairman Ray Fife said the meeting was not for accusations, but to find what could be done to save the fisheries.

Fife said everyone at the meeting was concerned, and the large turnout proved it.

Many people in the room had worked with oysters all their lives, Fife said.

'We've depended on oysters for the wellbeing of Bluff,' he said.

'We still want to have generations of fishermen that go out there and catch their oysters, for the next 100 years.'

They needed action fast, he said.

'If we can get Gary and Tim to lend their weight as the leaders, as well, and push to get action done … we can get this moving fast.'

If they left it too long, the oyster population in Foveaux Strait would be decimated, he said.

'They will be gone, and that would be the end of it … and may never come back again.

'It could sit there for years and years, so we will never see it again in our lifetime, or anyone's lifetime.'

Fife said they wanted to know, by the end of the week, what would be done.

His words were applauded by the audience of about 50.

Michael said, from experiences in France and Ireland, fisheries had to remove all their oysters and leave areas empty for long periods.

'The most important thing is to prevent spread, and the only way to do that is to stop infected oysters dying.'

Team manager of inshore fisheries Allen Frazer said the ministry was meeting every day about the infection in Stewart Island.

There was a certain window of time to take action, he said.

On Wednesday, there would be a meeting in Wellington of the response governance group to take the matter further, he said.

Tong asked the audience if there was support for Shadbolt and himself to speak with ministers for more action.

'I am hearing that the concern here is that they [the oysters] need to be eliminated,' he said.

Shadbolt said fishing in Southland was iconic, part of the region's identity and significant to the national economy.

Bonamia ostreae has been in New Zealand since at least 2015 in the Marlborough Sounds and Nelson, but this is the first time it has been found in another area of New Zealand.

The ministry has reissued a controlled area notice legally restricting movements of some shellfish species, including their spat, into and out of Nelson, Marlborough Sounds and Stewart Island.

It legally restricts movements of farm equipment and vessels out of Stewart Island to limit further spread.

There was no food safety issue from eating oysters with Bonamia ostreae.

Sanford has an oyster operation in Stewart Island that is a joint venture with Tio Operations Ltd, and has been affected by the with Bonamia ostraea situation.

Sanford spokeswoman Fiona MacMillan said strict movement controls were put in place and the company was not moving shellfish anywhere.

Barnes Wild Bluff Oysters manager Graeme Wright said earlier the impact on the oyster industry could be huge and he was concerned for his business.

Bonamia ostreae has devastated European and North American stocks in the past.

Another strain, Bonamia exitiosa, had been present in the wild populations in Foveaux Strait since the early 1960s. It wiped out more than 1.5 billion oysters - about 95 per cent of the total population - in 2001 and 2002.