By Alex Bourn
The number of oyster raiders targeting Northland farms is threatening to put the honest out of business.
Alan Brain has run his oyster farm in Waikare in the Bay of Islands for 44 years. Oysters are his livelihood and they are no longer safe in their beds.
“There is 800 tonnes of oysters in this farm and they are lying at the bottom and being stolen,” he says.
He has had a guts full of serious thefts over the years from oyster raiders who are looking for more than just a quick feed.
“I’ve caught about three dozen people on this particular farm, and just about on every occasion the quantities have been $1000 and up.”
Tens of thousands of dollars worth of shellfish have been lost on his farm to thieves in the last decade.
But Mr Brain says the highest fine in all that time has been a mere $400.
“The penalties are not heavy enough to make it unattractive to keep doing it.”
Add thieving to natural attrition like diseases, and oyster numbers begin dropping. That has led the town’s biggest employer, seafood company Sanford, to announce last week it is pulling out.
“There is so many tonnes getting onto the black market that the industry really is in dire straits if it's not controlled.”
The oyster farming veteran surveys during the day and sleeps on his boat at night in an attempt to stop thieves.
“There is a certain amount of danger in patrolling the farm myself.”
Oysters bought on the black-market carry the risk of being harvested unsafely and outside the shellfish health regulations.
“There is always a danger that contaminated oysters get into the public arena.”
The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, who merged with the Ministry of Fisheries in July, say that because the oysters are farmed the problem is outside of their jurisdiction and is a criminal matter for police.
But Mr Brain believes if the consequences are not increased, there could be little future left for the oyster farming industry.
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