Oyster farmers heard by the Minister of Fisheries
Angelique Negroni
31 / 07 / 2009 | Updated: 13: 52 | 1 Comments | Add to selection
Oyster farmers in the Arcachon basin sell their production, the 26 July 2009, despite the prefectural ban.
Oyster farmers in the Arcachon basin sell their production, the 26 July 2009, despite the prefectural ban. Photo credits: AFP
Oysters challenged for years, the mouse test on the safety of oysters could be replaced by the end 2009.
"The oyster farmers in the Arcachon basin are exhausted, plunged into absolute despair and some are desocialized. This is catastrophic. "This situation described by Goulven Brest, president of the National Council of Shellfish Culture (CNC), could soon improve.
Taking over the sensitive file of sanitary surveillance of shellfish, the Minister of Fisheries, Bruno Le Maire, announced yesterday that the contested test of the mouse could be replaced late 2009. This test, which consists of injecting the rodent with a digestive gland extract from the shellfish, has been the subject of intense debate for several years. Goulven Brest who deems it "good" ensures that it is however at the origin of the disastrous situation that the oyster companies face. "Since the beginning of the 1980 years, this process has proved its worth. But for five years, in the basin of Arcachon, even when there is no toxic algae, it sometimes delivers adverse results, "he says.
"An absurd situation"
According to him, molecules, without consequences for the man, come to distort the results. However, the only means of control authorized at European level, the test remains in force and on the basis of its results, the sale of oysters, again authorized since yesterday, has been banned four times since May. "An absurd situation," according to the representative of shellfish aquaculture professionals. After a meeting on the subject yesterday and bringing together the officials concerned, Bruno Le Maire agreed that the test of the mouse "the only available", presented "a number of inaccuracies that are unsatisfactory both for producers and consumers ". That's why, he said, "you have to find an alternative test to the mouse test." By accelerating the work of researchers on the issue, he hopes to obtain by the end of this year a new mode of control "more precise, more convincing, more explanatory and just as protective for the health of the consumer". But given the dramatic economic situation affecting oyster producers, some of whom, the minister recalled, "no longer have any income", it is urgent to act. Therefore, by the time of the arrival of the new test that must be validated by Brussels, Bruno Le Maire ensures working on "a transitional solution". However, the professionals have already submitted to the government a waiting proposition: "It is a question of resorting each time to three tests: that of the mouse, but also the observation of the medium to make sure of the presence or not of toxic algae and the chemical test, "explains Goulven Brest, adding that the producers were waiting for an answer tomorrow from the minister. However, the latter has not set a date, rather evoking a reflection over several weeks.
In the meantime, new shell checks could once again lead to a ban on sales. However, discouraged, some oyster farmers might not follow the instructions as was the case recently. Thus, in two days, Sunday and Monday, the police have noted 37 offenses.
