A mysterious ailment is killing up to 80 percent of adult oysters in shell fisheries around the French coast this summer, threatening an industry already weakened by a succession of crises.
The bizarre weather — weeks of rain and cold followed by tropical temperatures — is officially blamed for the sudden death of scores of thousands of oysters in south-western France, Brittany and Normandy.
But producers fear that an unknown disease may be devastating oyster beds, stricken since 2008 by a virus which massacres baby oysters. French output has been slashed by a third in the past four years.
"Some people are having to ration their sales," said Olivier Laban, president of the association of oyster producers in the Bay of Arcachon, near Bordeaux. "We were already producing relatively few oysters because of the deaths of juveniles in past years. Prices are very high and cannot really go higher."
