Cold weather normally encourages a needed rest for oysters to mature, said Yoann Thomas of France’s IRD research institute. In 2017 the roughly 4,500 oyster growers in France sold 100,000 tons, at an average price of 5,000 euros ($5,700) per ton. “Oyster farmers will see volumes down by 20 to 30 percent this year,” Le Gal said. “Oyster farmers had found a solution by putting ten times the amount of spat in the water in autumn, when the virus is not active,” Pernet said. But if warming and weather patterns become increasingly volatile, French farmers might have to start changing their growing seasons or move their beds north or further out to sea, Pernet said.

Source: Egypt Independent December 31, 2018 08:26 UTC