The Far North settlement of Kaeo is reeling after Sanford announced it was closing its oyster processing plant - one of the town's biggest employers - with the loss of 15 full time and 51 seasonal jobs.
It's a major setback for the small town, which took a hammering when ex-tropical cyclone Wilma struck the Far North in late January. And Kaeo was in deep water earlier when flooding affected the North.
Sanford managing director Eric Barratt said the plant, which stopped processing for the season last month, lacked shellfish as the OsHV-1 virus had decimated young oysters growing at the company's oyster farms at Whangaroa, Houhora and Kerikeri.
Sanford would keep its oyster farms operating and would work to beat the virus, selling its oysters to other processors in the meantime.
"Sanford is working on a number of initiatives on its own account, with industry and with research organisations to mitigate the impacts of the virus. However, at this stage it is not anticipated these initiatives will have a consequential impact on the stock available for processing in future years," Mr Barratt said.