Yorke Peninsula oyster farmers fear toxic algae could cripple local industry

A toxic algae is jeopardising a $100m South Australian industry, with farmers in fear of the worst.

Yorke Peninsula. Gerri and Steve Bowley, have operated oyster leases at Stansbury for the past 7 years.

Frustrated oyster farmers fear a toxic algae off the coast of the Yorke Peninsula could bring the $100m industry to its knees.

Six Stansbury oysters farmers have been forced to temporarily close their operations while health officials investigate the presence of brevetoxins in Oyster Bay.

The decision means more than 10 million oysters in the water will be quarantined, while further investigations were underway to identify the specific species of toxins produced by karenia algae.

While the current concentration of the toxin isn’t concerning, SA Health advises that oysters contaminated with the toxin can cause illness.

Pacific State Oysters owner Steve Bowley has been forced to close operations while authorities investigate the toxic algae. Source Dean Martin.

Pacific State Oysters owner Steve Bowley said the closure could jeapordise the industry if it was extended past the precautionary stage.

“If the numbers of this particular organism go north, then we will be closed for a long time,” Mr Bowley said.

“How long is a piece of string, how many holes in a crumpet, we don’t know.

“Without putting too fine of a point on it, I think the industry here would be f***** if it extended towards 18 months.”

He estimates a two-week shutdown would only cost businesses “a couple of grand”, while a longer, more wide-reaching ban on fishing across the state could cost the industry and tourism sector “hundreds of millions”.

“I certainly couldn’t survive 12-18 months without a sale, I don’t think any of the other growers could,” he said.

Oyster bed at Stansbury on Yorke Peninsula. Picture: Brenton Edwards

“We don’t know what it is, we don’t know what the toxicology of it is, is it a threat to human health or not? Is it going to kill our oysters or not?

“We have a lot of people who come over to the Yorke Peninsula to fish, buy groceries, book accommodation, if they stopped coming the whole economy would collapse.”

In 2012, a toxic algae bloom devastated more than 300 square kilometres of abalone farms, causing close to $525 million in lost production.

Paul Dee with some juvenile oysters at Southern Yorke Oysters at Stansbury.

Southern Yorke Oysters manager Michael Dee, who operates the business alongside his father Paul, said the decision to close the bay came at a difficult time for the business.

“It is quite a good time of the year to input spat (juvenile stage of oysters) for the future, so everyone has pressed pause on that, just in case you’re not going to invest $50,000 to $100,000 in that for them all to die,” he said.

“If it went for six months, we would be pulling our hair out because you need to sell oysters to create room.

“It is quite stressful with all the unknowns at the moment … we’d lose two years of work and all the investment, which is about $500,000 of stock.”

A PIRSA spokeswoman told The Advertiser “Harvesting areas are often temporarily closed as a precautionary measure to ensure food safety standards are upheld.”

Originally published as Yorke Peninsula oyster farmers fear toxic algae could cripple local industry