a “damage between 7 and 9 million euros”, estimates the president of the regional shellfish farming committee

“In the Arcachon basin, there is a loss of turnover of between 7 and 9 million euros”, estimates Olivier Laban, president of the Arcachon-Aquitaine regional shellfish farming committee, on franceinfo on Thursday December 28. A general meeting of the profession will be held on Friday while fishing, harvesting and marketing of oysters from the Arcachon basin and the Banc d’Arguin have been banned since Wednesday by the Gironde prefecture.

This sum represents the “800 to 1,000 tons” of oysters which will not be sold until December 31. The damage could be greater because “we are going for a 28-day closure” says Olivier Laban, also an oyster farmer in Gujan-Mestras. The fact of being “deprived of marketing throughout the month of January” represents a “huge damage” to which is added a “image deterioration” oyster farmers who pass for “poisoners” while they are “victims of a dysfunction”he underlines, blaming the sanitation network “which has completely saturated”.

A “general meeting of the profession will be held (Friday)”indicates Olivier Laban, while a letter was sent this Thursday to the prefect. “Health measures will have to be put in place”insists the oyster farmer who fears a drop in prices when the oysters are put back on the market in a few months.