RESTAURATEURS say the Pacific Oyster Mortality Syndrome outbreak devastating Tasmanian oyster crops is likely to affect the availability and price of oysters.
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Vineyard Seafood Restaurant owner and operator Charlotte Brown said securing oysters for her Festivale stall was ‘‘touch and go’’.
Ms Brown said the POMS outbreak in Southern growing leases and flooding at East Coast growing leases were both causes of low supplies.
‘‘The danger is really in the spat ... if the spat then gets planted elsewhere, there’s a greater risk of it spreading,’’ she said.
Ms Brown said she only received confirmation that she would be able to secure oysters from her grower a week before Festivale, after her supplier was flooded.
She said she would continue to gauge the situation concerning oyster availability and pricing.
‘‘It’s the everyday thing though – high demand means less supply and the price will go up, or they just won’t be available,’’ Ms Brown said.
‘‘If we can’t get the product, and we can’t get it from an oyster farmer that we know ... it will just come off the menu.’’
Ms Brown said a price hike wouldn’t deter her from serving oysters, but menu prices would reflect market prices.
POMS was detected at a Pitt Water lease on February 2, and has since spread to six growing areas, with further leases likely to have been infected and undergoing testing.
Oysters Tasmania executive officer Neil Stump told Fairfax Media that POMS could cause an ‘‘economic disruption’’ of up to $70 million.
Primary Industries and Water Minister Jeremy Rockliff announced that the government would provide $777,000 in immediate fee relief for Tasmanian oyster growers.
Ms Brown said she required 6000 oysters from her supplier for Festivale.
Had her supplier not reopened in time, she would only have been able to acquire 3600.
