Oyster sales in France remain at risk this year, according to AFSSA, the country’s food-safety watchdog.
Production in France, Europe’s oyster hotbed, took a big hit in 2008 and 2009 when disease caused up to 100 percent mortality, depending on the site. Spats (oyster larvae) and juveniles were particularly affected.
The herpes virus OsHV-1 µvar “played a major role,” concluded AFSSA (Agence Francaise de Securite Sanitaire des Aliments). The agency warned that because a “biological reservoir for this virus and its variants” exists, there is a “high risk” that outbreaks of mortalities will recur this year.
The particularly vulnerable time of the year is coming up, with outbreaks expected from April to August largely due to higher water temperature.
“Once again, the animals most affected will probably be spats and juveniles, which are populations newly exposed to the virus,” said AFSSA.
Valued at EUR 630 million (USD 842 million), France produces about 130,000 metric tons of oysters a year, with French consumers eating the lion’s share of production, about 95 percent. But mortality has severely impeded production, and this year output is expected to fall 40 percent. The decline is likely to continue over the next two years, largely because oysters require three years to reach maturity.
Despite the drop in production, prices at the consumer level may not rise significantly, Goulven Brest, president of France’s shellfish organization, Comite National de La Conchyliculture (CNC), told SeafoodSource.
This, he said, is because “there is quite a bit of margin at the distributor/supermarket level.” While producers were paid EUR 2 or 2.10 a kilogram for oysters four years ago, last year they received EUR 1.80. By contrast, the consumer can pay between EUR 8 and 10 a kilogram. Traditionally, he added, there has always been a big margin between producer and retailer.
According to the CNC, the virus threatens about one-quarter of France’s 4,200 shellfish firms.
Disgruntled oyster producers took to the streets of Paris earlier this month, demanding a meeting with the country’s fisheries minister, Bruno Le Maire, which they received. Airing their grievances, the producers outlined solutions to help themselves emerge from the crisis quickly.
In its advisory report, AFSSA issued a series of recommendations intended to limit the risk of new outbreaks of mortality and prevent the spread of the disease by avoiding the contamination of areas still unaffected. At the same time, the agency stressed that the virus affects only shellfish, and that the oysters on the market are safe to eat.
