Oysters go from ocean to landfill

The first load of oysters culled from farms in the Marlborough Sounds have been sent to landfill, despite tests for a deadly parasite coming back clear in Southland.

Ten farms have been ordered for removal by the Ministry for Primary Industries in an effort to control the spread of Bonamia ostreae, which threatened Bluff oysters.

The first oysters, cages, ropes and equipment used on farms in the sounds were sent for burial at Blenheim’s Bluegum Landfill last week.

Tio Point Oysters co-owner Bruce Hearn was still in talks for the removal of his farms, and said the ministry decision had put his business in jeopardy.

Six workers lost their jobs as a result and his business of 35 years was left in disarray, Hearn said.

‘‘This has been my life’s work. Aquaculture has been something I’ve put everything into.

‘‘This is something we’ve been working on for a long time.’’

About 4000 tonnes of the farmed shellfish had already been removed from waters in Southland to prevent the parasite from reaching the wild population.

A ministry spokesman said the removal of the last caged oysters was completed last week at Big Glory Bay in Stewart Island.

Since March last year, the ministry had conducted sampling of farmed and wild oysters every six months in Marlborough, Otago, the Chatham Islands and Southland.

The latest round of sampling last week revealed the parasite had not spread to the Bluff wild oyster fishery.

Nonetheless, the ministry was moving ahead with plans to remove all Marlborough oyster farms.

Ministry incident controller for the bonamia response Nicky Fitzgibbon confirmed the first removal of Sounds farms had run smoothly, and planning was under way to remove further farms.

Marlborough District Council solid waste manager Alec McNeil expected a couple of hundred tonnes of material would be disposed of within two to three weeks.

The removal of Marlborough farms would occur in stages and would be weather-dependent, McNeil said. Odour should not be a problem, he said.

‘‘It’s disinfected and sealed before being transported to our landfill, where it will be buried as soon as it’s tipped.’’

The oysters were dumped in bags were covered with one metre of soil and sawdust.

The spread of Bonamia ostreae had been considered a serious threat to flat oysters, which includes Bluff oysters, since it was found in the Marlborough and Nelson areas in 2015.

The ministry had mentioned the possibility of compensation for farmers last month, and Hearn was hopeful something could be arranged.

‘‘We’ll see how that works out,’’ he said. ‘‘But there is no amount of money to compensate for this. Businesses are often more than money.’’