Coffin Bay oyster workers stood down, orders cancelled as health scare closes production

Areas outside Coffin Bay are losing orders and workers are being stood down after a gastro-like illness forced the closure of SA’s famous oyster farms.

Oyster orders are being cancelled and casual staff stood down after a health scare forced the temporary closure of Coffin Bay’s farms.

South Australia’s shock week-long stop to harvesting and selling oysters is only for those grown in Coffin Bay.

But South Australian Oyster Growers Association executive officer Lynlee Lowe said some orders were being cancelled for the shellfish produced outside of the Eyre Peninsula region.

“There’s been quite a few growers … that had a few cancellations of their orders,” Mrs Lowe said.

The $28m oyster industry is grappling with a temporary government-imposed halt to harvesting at Coffin Bay, expected to be in place until early next week.

The state has recorded 45 cases of a foodborne vibrio parahaemolyticus (Vp) infection over the past two months, most linked to Coffin Bay. Vp, causing gastro symptoms, is associated with eating undercooked seafood.

Primary Industries and Regions SA (PIRSA) biosecurity executive director Nathan Rhodes said an investigation into the outbreak’s cause was ongoing but “ultimately, we may not be able to pinpoint the exact cause”.

Angel Seafood chief executive Zac Halman said it had stood down casual workers amid the “devastating” effects of the closure.

About 50 permanent staff work across the business’s main operations at Coffin Bay and other oyster farms around the state.

Zac Halman of Angel Oysters says the closure is having a devastating effect.

“We’ll have a reasonable loss if produce does get recalled,” Mr Halman said. “We’ve got a lot of produce out in the marketplace.

“We’re in limbo at the moment. A loss like this is a pretty deep cut for everyone just before the Christmas period.”

However, Mr Halman said oyster farmers were resilient and this was a chance to ensure producers and those in the supply chain followed correct procedures.

The association’s chairman, Rob Kerin, said growers were concerned about people’s perceptions of food safety problems affecting all producers, even though the closure only affected Coffin Bay. Vibrio parahaemolyticus is a bacteria occurring in coastal waters. It is believed environmental conditions may have recently caused changes to its amount in oyster production areas.

Vp can cause illness if oysters are not kept at the right temperature, and are eaten raw. “This year, for some reason, we’re getting a lot more of it,” Mr Kerin said. “It may be because there’s been some big winds and a couple of rain events that may have stirred it up on the ocean floor and into the water column.”

PIRSA said testing was being undertaken on oysters and environmental conditions, including salinity and water temperature. Cases are being traced to where oysters were sourced and consumed and how they were transported and held.

One Mount Gambier man described the effects he experienced after eating 41 oysters in Coffin Bay on Wednesday, November 10.

After about 30 hours, he felt very light-headed, then experienced bad stomach cramps and started “shaking uncontrollably”. He said at one point he was “on the verge of unconsciousness”, lost his vision and had bad diarrhoea.