There was no norovirus outbreak tied to Baynes Sound shellfish growers in 2019 and the industry is capitalizing on the good news. (File photo/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By Spencer Sterritt

turning tides

Mid-island shellfish industry rebounds with publicity push

May 22, 2019 | 4:16 PM

NANAIMO — After two rough years, the shellfish industry in the mid-island is working to promote its farmers and rebuild trust.

In both 2017 and 2018, norovirus illnesses were linked to the consumption of raw oysters from the Baynes Sound area and several hundred people became sick. The outbreaks were never linked to specific shellfish growers. Instead, it’s believed the norovirus was in the water itself.

In 2019, however, there was no such outbreak in the Baynes Sound area.

BC Shellfish Growers Association executive director Darlene Winterburn told NanaimoNewsNOW they managed to find a “win-win” situation between themselves, the various governmental agencies involved and also the herring industry, who was identified as a possible source of the very broad problem.

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“We identified areas already closed to shellfish farming for a number of different reasons and asked the herring fleeting if they’d be willing to moor and anchor their vessels in those areas. We had to do some tweaking…but in the end if worked like a charm.”

Over the two years an outbreak occurred in the area, millions of dollars was lost. Winterburn previously said more than $9 million was lost in 2017 and sales dipped roughly 50 per cent in 2018.

However, with a solution now in place, Winterburn said they’ve focused on turning the spotlight onto their farmers and the families who work to provide oysters to restaurants all over the country.

“It tells the story better than anything else out there,” she said of the videos. “These are our farmers from all over the province talking about they do. It’s a really beautiful story.”

spencer@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @spencer_sterrit