The Gironde prefecture on Wednesday temporarily banned fishing, harvesting and marketing activities for all shellfish from the area.
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Usually, they decorate end-of-year holiday tables. However, four days before the New Year, oysters from the Arcachon basin must be absent this time. The Gironde prefecture announced, Wednesday December 27, a ban until further notice fishing, harvesting and marketing for consumption of all shellfish from the Arcachon basin, after cases of collective food poisoning.
For now, “no serious cases have been reported” and traceability investigations are underway, while several reports show that these products “are in question”, specifies the prefecture in a press release. Franceinfo takes stock of the situation by answering five questions.
1 What are the prefecture’s guidelines?
The prefecture has banned “temporarily” fishing, harvesting and marketing all shellfish from the Arcachon basin and the Banc d’Arguin, off the Pilat dune. Since Wednesday evening, “lots of shellfish harvested or fished in these areas must be withdrawn from sale”specifies the prefecture.
Furthermore, therecreational shellfish fishing is “also prohibited”. This measure will be lifted “as long as the sanitary quality” crustaceans will have become again “fully satisfactory”.
2 Why such a ban?
The prefecture issued this order because of “several cases of collective food poisoning” noted in recent days, even if “no serious cases have been reported to date”. Traceability investigations are still ongoing. Several reports already show that oysters from the Arcachon basin “are in question” and analyzes carried out on locally raised products confirm the presence of norovirus, which causes gastroenteritis, adds the prefecture.
People who ate these oysters experienced symptoms of “acute gastroenteritis”, which are characterized by diarrhea or vomiting, sometimes accompanied by nausea, abdominal pain and fever. Testimonies are multiplying on social networks, reports the daily South West.
Furthermore, regional health authorities noted an increase in visits to emergency rooms for gastrointestinal symptoms, including food poisoning, on Monday and Tuesday, reports France 3 Nouvelle-Aquitaine.
3 What should you do if you have eaten oysters or have them in your possession?
For people in possession of oysters from the Arcachon basin, the prefecture requests “not to consume them and to return them to the point of sale”. For those who have eaten it, the national food safety agency (ANSES) recommends on its site to adopt barrier gestures (in particular washing your hands regularly). In the event of complications, do not hesitate to contact the emergency number, 15, or your doctor.
Public Health France also reminds that it is useless to use antibiotics for the treatment of gastroenteritis of viral origin, as is the case here. The agency on the other hand, emphasizes the importance of hydrating yourself. She also calls for cleaning your refrigerator frequently and keeping it at a temperature between 0 and 4°C, in a press release published on X.
4 What is the origin of the contaminations?
This situation comes from a “saturation of wastewater and rainwater networks”which generates “overflows in the natural environment”, contaminating farming areas, explains the Arcachon Aquitaine Regional Shellfish Farming Committee (CRCAA) in a press release. Noroviruses are not “not naturally here[s] in sea water”he recalls.
Thierry Lafon, an oyster farmer based in the area concerned, spoke to AFP about a sanitation network “very suitable, often taken as an example”but denounces rainwater management “lamentable”. So, due to precipitation “important” occurred in recent weeks, the water tables have risen to the surface. “In these cases, a few centimeters of water on the roadway are enough to invade the sanitation system”, he explains. The pipes can no longer eliminate this surplus, which causes an overflow into the “the marine environment, which is becoming unhealthy”.
5 What could be the economic consequences for the sector?
“It’s the worst time for oyster farmers”, deplores the mayor of Arès (Gironde), Xavier Daney, on franceinfo. The few days between Christmas and New Year’s Day represent between “15 and 20%” of the production of oyster farmers, recalls the councilor, who already fears “the extent of the consequences” of this ban for the profession. “For those working with mass retailers, the festive period accounts for up to half of their volumes, with two thirds sold at Christmas and a third for New Year”says Thierry Lafon.
For its part, the CRCAA fears “an unprecedented economic crisis” for producers, already weakened by the damage caused by a succession of storms in the fall. Despite their efforts to try to save their production, oyster farmers then estimated their losses at around 160 tonnes, according to France Bleu Gironde. Local oyster production is around 8,000 tonnes per year, a little less than 10% of national production, according to the latest figures from the union and Agreste (statistics service dependent on the Ministry of Agriculture). reported by AFP.