Oyster season ‘worst I Controlled explosives mitigate avalanche risk have seen in 26 years’
THE Bluff oyster season is almost at an end and it is not one to write home about.
Barnes Oysters Ltd general manager Graeme Wright said it was the worst oyster season he had seen in terms of product and quality of the oysters.
He said not one thing could be blamed for the season but it was just what happened when working with a wild fishery.
‘‘The quality was disappointing — probably the worst I have seen in my 26 years in the industry,’’ he said.
‘‘But it is like a crop of spuds. ‘‘Some years you can plant them and they go great — other years it just doesn’t happen. ‘‘That is just the way it is.’’ Factors which could have affected the oysters included the drought in Southland over summer and autumn, which led to a decline in fresh water heading into the sea.
‘‘There was not a lot of fresh water and salt water interaction.
‘‘Then we got a lot of easterlies, not many southwesters,
Graeme Wright
which bring up the nutrients and plankton that the oysters need,’’ Mr Wright said.
He said reproductivity was high in the oysters, which was promising for the future, but it meant oysters were not of such high quality this year.
The total allowable catch of Bluff oysters every year was just under 15 million, but there was a voluntary quota set by the industry of just half that and Barnes Oysters met its quota late last week, he said.
Other processors in the industry had either reached their quota or were not far off.
The season finishes on August 31 if the quota is not met.
Mr Wright said there were good juvenile oysters, which bode well for the future, although the oysters took a long time to grow — six to eight years — to full maturity.
He said demand was still high and at $28.50 for a raw dozen in his shop, they had no problem getting rid of them.
Staff had remained loyal and there had been some issues with Covid19 isolation and then the flu season arriving but, overall, processors had managed to get through.
There had been no sign of the Bonamia ostreae disease, which had sent worries through the industry in recent times.
IT is probably the most spectacular piece of road in the country and it must be kept open.
But it is an alpine highway, so avalanches can seriously affect the road between Te Anau and Milford sound.
An avalanche control programme has been in use for many years and it was in operation yesterday.
Heavy snow leading to avalanche risk had closed the road at the weekend and it was closed again at 4.30pm on Tuesday.
Work was done by the Milford Road Alliance yesterday to clear the road of any avalanche threat and the road was reopened at 2pm.
A Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency statement said the avalanche area covered 17km, starting at Falls Creek, above Hollyford Rd junction, and ending at the Chasm on the Milford Sound side of the Homer Tunnel.
The terrain of nearvertical walls and large, steep snow basins alongside the road provides an almost perfect landscape for avalanches.
The avalanches start high up in the mountains, which cannot be seen from the Milford road.
❛ Some years you can plant them and they go great. Other years it just doesn’t happen
The Milford Road Alliance operates an avalanche control programme that predicts and controls avalanches.
A specialist avalanche control team employs highly technical equipment to manage avalanches.
The specialised weather and condition monitoring equipment is based both at road and mountain level, and is monitored around the clock to maximise safety and minimise road closures.
Besides predicting avalanches, the programme also controls the avalanche hazard by either not allowing traffic to stop inside the avalanche area or closing the road and using controlled explosives to release avalanches before they occur naturally.
Controlled explosives were used yesterday morning to move snow down from the mountains.
Helicopters were used to ferry the explosives high up in the mountains and reduce the avalanche risk.
By 2pm yesterday the risk was reduced and the road was reopened.