Bay of Islands oyster farms on brink of collapse

Oyster farms in Northland's Waikare Inlet are teetering on collapse, as farmers wait to see if the Government will help keep their industry alive, one of the farmers says.

A few have gained minor relief from a relaxation of rules governing the relaying of shellfish from their enterprises to other areas.

But oyster farmer Mike Hearn said relaying was only viable for a small portion of the oysters on farms in the Bay of Islands inlet, and was no resolution to the problems caused by a ban on harvesting in place for four months.

Northland Health halted harvesting from 18 farms in the inlet in September after an outbreak of viral gastroenteritis among people who had eaten oysters from the area at Auckland restaurants.

The oysters were found to contain the norwalk virus, which comes from human faeces.

Four major possible sources of pollutants in the Waikare Inlet identified are the Kawakawa sewerage scheme, septic tanks at Okiato Pt, and commercial and recreational boats.

Some of the farmers were now trying to get other work to earn some income.

"No one is working in the Waikare. They can't afford to," Mr Hearn said.

As the oysters remained unharvested they continued to grow, and were now twice the size at which they were normally taken off the farm structures.

Those structures were only designed for a certain weight, and, as feared, some were starting to fall.

It was almost too late for the Government to step in now with assistance, he said.

It was feared the result of leaving the oysters unharvested would be a widespread collapse of the farms, leading to a huge amount of siltation, a build-up of mud banks and altered water flow.

Previously the farmers estimated it would cost $800,000 to remove and dump all last year's stock of oysters, and to keep the farms viable well into 2002, by which time issues relating to the Kawakawa sewerage system would hopefully be resolved.

Mr Hearn said the amount needed would be about half the cost to the Government if it lost tax from the farms, and had to pay the farmers unemployment benefits.

But the farmers were still waiting for a response from officials to their request for aid, he said.

- NORTHERN ADVOCATE