French Oyster Farmers Hit By Die-Off Of Unknown Origin - 40 - 100% Of Young Oysters Dying - Reuters

[hatrack]

PARIS - Young oysters in most French breeding regions are dying at much higher rates than normal and scientists have yet to understand the causes, marine environmental experts said on Friday. Oysters are a popular Christmas treat in France which produces 130,000 tonnes annually, making France the fourth biggest producer after China, Japan and South Korea.

A national committee of shellfish farmers held a meeting in Paris to look into findings by marine biologists which shows that between 40 and 100 percent of young oysters were dying, depending on the areas. "What we seem to have is a conjunction of multiple factors concerning the oyster itself and the environment it's in, and there could also be pathogens," Michel Ropert, an environmental scientist at a marine lab in Normandy, told French television.

France's main marine research body, the Ifremer, said the oysters affected by the unusual mortality rate are those aged 12 to 18 months, which should have reached maturity in time for Christmas 2009.

All main oyster-breeding areas in France are affected by the mortality problem, except one specific area at Arcachon on the west coast. Scientists do not know why Arcachon is spared.

EDIT

http://www.planetark.com/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/49318/story.htm

[smoogatz]

1. Fuck, man. Not the oysters.

The world is going to be freaking unrecognizable in twenty years--and all for the worse. This sucks.

[phantom power]

2. On a tangential topic, my in-laws mentioned that crab are going for $90/doz in DE.

$7.50 a crab.