Coffin Bay oysters: Christmas orders cancelled amid health scare

Christmas oyster orders have been cancelled by some businesses worried by a health scare that’s forced an indefinite shutdown of harvesting in Coffin Bay.

Some Eyre Peninsula oyster companies are cancelling Christmas orders as the fallout from a health scare rolls on.

West Coast Oysters, in Coffin Bay, and Gazander Oysters, Little Douglas, have told customers they are cancelling orders for the festive season amid an outbreak of Vibrio parahaemolyticus (Vp) in South Australia.

It has so far been linked to 69 cases of illness across the state, prompting a government-mandated closure of Coffin Bay harvesting, an oyster product recall and many growers in other bays deciding to voluntarily cease sales.

Vp is a bacteria that can cause gastro symptoms when seafood is not kept at the correct temperature.

There have been 69 cases of Vp illness registered in SA. Picture: Kitti Gould

West Coast Oysters and Gazander Oysters referred The Advertiser to the SA Oyster Growers’ Association.

On Facebook, Gazander Oysters owners Carly and Steven “Thomo” Thomson said it was an “emotional and stressful” time and “financially costly to us and the whole industry”. Oysters that took two years to grow were destroyed, they said.

“We have decided with heavy hearts to cancel Christmas deliveries and refund all customers,” they wrote.

They said while harvest before Christmas may still be possible, the business had chosen not to do so for Adelaide clientele this year. It would instead focus on checking processes to ensure quality and safety, and increasing cold-chain security and documentation ready for the 2022 season.

Experience Coffin Bay owners Chris and Linda Hank say they’ve replaced oyster tasting on their tours, with other seafood, for the time being. Picture: Ben Yuan

West Coast Oysters also said it would not have an Adelaide collection before Christmas.

“Even though our bay may be possibly opened for harvest prior to Christmas, we have new procedures and protocols to put in place, and we need to concentrate on these to ensure we deliver to you our best product,” the business told customers on Facebook.

Meantime, Experience Coffin Bay owners Chris and Linda Hank are still running tours of oyster farms and the Coffin Bay National Park coastline, replacing oyster tasting with other seafood.

Mr Hank said while business was a little quiet, it would pick up after Christmas. He encouraged South Australians to back growers by buying their produce once the Vp scare was dealt with.

“It’s a very difficult time for the oyster growers and I think once everything is sorted out it will be perfectly safe for people to go back out into what’s traditionally a great treat – to experience eating oysters,” he said.

SA Oyster Growers Association executive officer Lynlee Lowe said many growers did not traditionally harvest during spawning season, between mid-December and February, with Christmas supplies usually frozen by processors before then.

Chairman Rob Kerin said many growers in regions outside Coffin Bay chose to cease harvesting to reduce potential impacts.

“If you keep going and there are more cases and then you get closed down by Health, you lose stock in transit, which is what we’re trying to avoid,” he said.

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