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Ministry action annoys oyster farmers
14th February 2003
Stuff - Northland
One of the reasons the Ministry of Fisheries has issued default notices to oyster farmers in parts of the Waikare Inlet is that some of the farmers are no longer prepared to pay for the monitoring tests for their oysters.
But Northland Health's monitoring test is for bacteria and does not pick up the Norwalk-like virus - which led to the closure of the farms.
"What they are testing for isn't a predictable indicator of whether the virus is present," says oyster farmer Mike Hearn. "Why should we resume paying for this testing when we still won't be able to reopen our farms. It is just throwing money away."
The farmers would be required to pay a total of $13,000 for the arrears in costs and for testing until the end of October.
The Ministry's notices of default for breach of marine farm leases give the farmers three months to remedy the breaches or apply to the Ministry to sell the lease on, or farms may be forfeited to the Crown.
Senior Fisheries Management Advisor Scott Williamson says the decision by 17 of the farmers to withdraw from the shellfish sanitation programme has led to the 'prohibited' classification going on their oysters.
According to Mr Williamson the farmers must ensure the shellfish are not rendered unfit for human consumption to fulfil the conditions of their leases. For the Waikare Inlet farmers this means continuing to pay for the monitoring tests and then taking the oysters to another location for a depuration or cleaning period for up to eight weeks before they can be sold.
The oyster farmers say this process, called relaying, is not economically viable.
"We have had offers to buy the oysters for relaying. But it costs us around eight dollars per stick to grow the oysters and these guys are offering us four to five dollars per stick," says Mr Hearn.
"We have been told that we need to relay the oysters to fulfil the conditions of the leases but there is nowhere to relay them to. I spent most of last year driving all over the country trying to find places to relay the oysters. I did so where-ever it was possible and was able to get rid of about seven per cent of the product. The whole process cost me a loss of $14,000.
"MinFish just don't know what they are talking about and they aren't communicating with us."
Mr Hearn says reopening the farms would require removing the oysters from the broken structures, fixing the structures, leaving the area alone for some weeks for the silt to clear away, restocking with young oysters and waiting a year before they are ready to harvest.
Scott Williamson says his advice is that there isn't an enormous amount of work for each farm to become operational again. "I understand that oyster farms generally look a bit scruffy and that these are not badly off.
"We don't want to be draconian and we will grant an extension if there is good will and an attempt to meet the conditions. This is the only lever we have to get these guys back to work."
Federated Farmers Northland says the action taken by MAF shows a total lack of sympathy for the plight of the oyster farmers. Mr Colin Pidgeon QC will be immediately responding to the MAF compliance notices.
Eleven oyster farmers are suing the Far North District Council for at least $10M in compensation and other costs for alleged pollution of the farms from the Kawakawa sewerage system.
"I just hope the council is up to date with its premiums for its public liability insurance," commented Bill Guest, of Federated Farmers Northland.
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