MPI holds bonamia talks

Representatives from the Southland oyster industry met with Ministry for Primary Industries staff yesterday to discuss how they would manage the oyster disease Bonamia ostreae in the future.

More than a dozen oyster stakeholders attended an invitation-only workshop held at the Ascot Park Hotel. Media were not invited to the meeting.

The oyster-killing disease, first found in Marlborough in 2015, infected two Southland farms in May 2017. The ministry ordered the removal of oysters from Big Glory Bay, in Stewart Island, and areas of the Marlborough Sounds.

A ministry staff member at the meeting said it was being held to discuss the long-term management of the Southland fishery, following the incursion of the oyster disease.

The ministry wanted to identify what areas it would need to focus on once the response was finished, the staff member said.

The stakeholders were invited so that the ministry could get an understanding of what areas were of most concern, the staff member said.

The meeting follows the release of a report by the ministry into whether the disease was spread to Southland as a result of illegal activity. The investigation did not find any conclusive evidence to prove that any persons were at fault.

How the disease reached the Southland fishery was not part of the scope of the investigation.