Louise Sallé with AFP / Photo credits: LOIC VENANCE / AFP 6:52 a.m., December 28, 2023, modified at 7:42 p.m., December 28, 2023
Oysters from the Arcachon Basin are temporarily banned from sale after “several cases of collective food poisoning”, announced the Gironde prefecture four days before New Year’s Eve. “The symptoms are those of gastroenteritis acute and no serious cases have been reported to date,” the authorities said in a press release published Wednesday evening.
Traceability investigations underway
Traceability investigations are underway but several reports already indicate that oysters from the Arcachon Basin “are in question”, analyzes carried out on locally farmed oysters having confirmed the presence of “norovirus”.
“It really hurts”
Questioned on Europe 1, Axel Boudard, oyster farmer in Andernos-les-Bains, in the Arcachon basin, confides his dismay, considering the investment required for oyster farming. “It hurts my heart because it’s a product that takes 3-4 years to mature. So it really hurts. The fact that it arrives after Christmas limits the damage, but it’s still going to be a big blow hard for oyster farming.
If the exact amount of losses is difficult to estimate for those involved in the sector, it could be around “several tens of thousands of euros at the end of the year”. Generally speaking, Axel Boudard fears for the reputation of the Arcachon basin oyster. “What we are very afraid of is that the image of the Arcachon oyster will be affected in the longer term. A ban at this time has a very bad impact on the image of the oyster.”
In consultation with health organizations, the prefecture has therefore temporarily banned fishing, harvesting and marketing activities intended for human consumption of all shellfish from the Arcachon Basin, including the Banc d’Arguin. “As of today, batches of shellfish harvested or fished in these areas must be withdrawn from sale. People who have shellfish from these areas are asked not to consume them and to return them to the point of sale “, indicates the prefectural press release.
The profession says it is “victim of the saturation of wastewater and rainwater networks”
This measure, which will be lifted “as soon as the health quality of the shellfish becomes fully satisfactory again”, primarily affects oyster farmers whose production was to grace many tables on Sunday evening for New Year’s Eve.
The profession says it is “victim of the saturation of wastewater and rainwater networks” which causes “overflows into the natural environment” contaminating the production areas, in a press release from the Arcachon Aquitaine Regional Shellfish Culture Committee (CRCAA) . “Two months after the storms which massacred several hectares of oyster farms on the Banc d’Arguin”, professionals fear “an unprecedented economic crisis” and ask “who will pay the bill”.
Oyster production in the area concerned is around 8,000 tonnes per year, or 10% of national production according to the latest figures available from the CRCAA and Agreste (agricultural statistics).
2023-12-29 06:41:30
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