COMMENTARY: The world is your oyster - P.E.I. growers need everyone's support |
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COMMENTARY: The world is your oyster - P.E.I. growers need everyone's support
Prince Edward Island’s oyster industry is in trouble.
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That isn’t an exaggeration. Oyster growers across the Island are reporting serious losses from MSX and dermo, two diseases that are harmless to humans but devastating to oyster beds. The diseases have spread through oyster stocks and left many producers facing an uncertain future. Some growers are reporting mortality rates exceeding 50 per cent (more in West Prince). We still have oysters, but healthy ones are harder to find and even more precious to fishers and producers. Families that have worked the water for generations are working harder than ever and wondering what comes next.
This should concern all of us.
Oysters are more than a menu item on P.E.I. They are part of our identity. They support families, coastal communities, tourism operators, restaurants, processors and exporters. They are one of the products that help define us around the world, right up there with the potato, the mussel and, yes, the lobster.
Yet at the very moment the oyster industry is struggling, something doesn’t seem right.
I have spoken with people in the industry who tell me that some growers are receiving as little as 50........