Le Figaro Bordeaux
The sale of oysters was re-authorized by the authorities in January. But for the oyster farmers of the Arcachon Basin, the crisis is still not over. Deprived of revenue from Christmas and New Year's Eve celebrations due to bacteriological contamination with norovirus, caused by an overflow of water from the sanitation networks, they are still struggling to sell their production. Between fears and popular caution after the December poisonings, consumers are unable to confidently put oysters back on the plate. Results: sales halved compared to the same period last year according to the Arcachon Aquitaine Regional Shellfish Farming Committee (CRCAA). A loss of gross margin that local oyster farmers estimate at 5 million euros.
“Obviously, those who have been sick think twice before consuming again
,” concedes its president, Olivier Laban. A reluctance coupled with a
“contraction of the economy”
and
“rainy weather”:
the 8,000 tonnes of oysters produced each year in the Arcachon Basin are shunned. To reverse the trend, the sector is launching its season, Saturday April 6, with tastings and bandas (ambulatory brass bands) in a
“feria atmosphere”
. A communication campaign, called
“We open”
and supported by the New Aquitaine Region, echoes this.
We have been called murderers, but we are only victims in history. It fell on us like poverty on the poor and it broke our legs
Ingrid Olivier, oyster farmer in Arcachon
For oyster farmers, the situation is all the more painful as they are not
a priori
responsible for this winter's poisoning.
“We have been called murderers, but we are only victims in history. Norovirus is not a bacteria that exists naturally in water. It fell on us like poverty on the poor and it broke our legs
,” confided to Le
Figaro
in February Ingrid Olivier, an oyster farmer in the village of L’Herbe. After several complaints, the Bordeaux public prosecutor's office opened a criminal investigation, particularly for
"ecocide",
in January.
The judge of liberty and detention was also seized and must deliver his verdict on Tuesday in a criminal summary proceedings targeting Veolia and the Arcachon Basin intercommunal union (Siba). The latter could be subject to a penalty of 5,000 euros per day until its dilapidated water drainage network is brought up to standard. The CRCAA must also file with the administrative court a summary assessment to determine responsibility for this water pollution in the coming days. He also hopes for compensation from the State, the aid modalities of which are still
“to be constructed”
.