Sales of oysters from the Arcachon basin, reauthorized in January after poisoning during the holidays, have fallen by 50% over the past two months, according to the regional shellfish committee, which is hoping for the promised compensation but is mainly aiming for a "relaunch" of the consumption.
“It's less 50% on average” since January 19, compared to the same period last year, Olivier Laban, president of the Arcachon Aquitaine Regional Shellfish Farming Committee (CRCAA), told AFP on Wednesday.
A crisis with several causes
“Obviously, those who have been sick think twice” before consuming again, he lamented, while pointing to other causes for this “crisis”: “There is a contraction in the economy, deplorable weather, a fairly general slump.
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Several banning orders were issued at the end of December on the French coast after cases of mass poisoning linked to shellfish contaminated with norovirus, particularly around Arcachon, where around 8,000 tonnes of oysters are produced per year (nearly of 10% of national production).
Arcachon oyster farmers have estimated the lost gross margin at around 5 million euros.
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Refined figures must be sent next week to state services to specify the compensation needs but the modalities of the aid remain “to be constructed” from an administrative point of view, explained Olivier Laban, who does not do not expect the first payments “before September or October”.
“The best help will be a good recovery, that nature offers us a nice spring and a summer favorable to the growth, to the growth of oysters, and that it starts again,” he said.
The CRCAA has also planned a communication campaign called “We open”, with the support of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, to launch the new season on April 6 around the Basin, with tastings, bands and an “atmosphere of feria”.
An investigation opened for “ecocide”
On the judicial front, the CRCAA confirmed that it intended to file “in the coming days” a summary expert opinion with the administrative court of Bordeaux, in order to determine responsibilities in the pollution of the waters of the Arcachon basin.
After several complaints, the Bordeaux public prosecutor's office opened a criminal investigation at the beginning of January, in particular for "ecocide".
As part of an environmental summary procedure which must be judged this week, the public prosecutor has requested a fine of 5,000 euros per day if measures are not adopted to improve the Basin's sanitation network.