Oyster producers on the Nambucca River face a 21-day shutdown after the floods caused a wastewater spill into the estuary and wiped out oyster infrastructure and stock.
Key points:
- Floods in the Nambucca River have wiped out oyster populations, infrastructure and caused a sewage spill
- Farmers will not be able to harvest for at least 21 days
- The Nambucca Council is working to address the issue
Local grower James Ford said previous floods and prolonged wet weather had kept the river closed for harvesting since late last year.
“We only opened the river a few days ago and closed it again,” he said.
“There is another sewage spill from our town hall and this is a slap in the face of at least another mandatory 21-day closure.”
Ford said there was also a sewage spill during the March floods.
“The same thing happened last time … we overcame it,” he said.
“We can’t survive this rate of spills, especially with a seasonal product.”
Remains trapped in oyster leases on the Nambucca River during the March flood. (Provided by: Delphine Tessier)
The farmers are fed up
There are only eight oyster businesses left on the river and Ford says producers are fed up.
“More than 50 percent of us are saying,‘ Okay, buy us. Put the money on the table, we’re done, ”he said.
Prolonged closures have caused farmers to lose vital sales.
“We’ve lost Easter sales, we’ve lost Christmas sales and we’ve both lost in the same year – it’s 70 percent of your production,” Ford said.
“We need every opportunity to reopen, but we are facing mandatory 21 – day closures and almost consecutive closures due to wet weather.
“Five spills in a year: you have more than 100 days [unable to harvest]. “
James Ford wants to see the council do more to prevent wastewater spills in the future. (ABC Coffs Coast: Claudia Jambor)
The Council “works tirelessly”
Ford said it wanted the Nambucca Council to do more to prevent another spill in the future.
“The scariest thing is that we haven’t had such a big drop before it was this time,” he said.
“We hadn’t even reached, as far as I know, the 50mm mark before it was actually recorded that there was a spill.”
Council CEO Chris Thompson said he would work to fix the wastewater spill as soon as possible.
“All sewer systems will be under pressure when there are flood events,” he said.
“Floodwater enters the sewer system and puts an additional load on the treatment plant and wastewater will bubble at different points from time to time.
“Our response has been to have a good crew working tirelessly to identify problem areas and fix them as soon as they can.”
Thompson said the council would take a closer look at the issue.
“We have one more report at the council meeting next week on improving the sewer systems that have been identified to prevent further spills.”