Japanese tsunami means bonanza for Irish oysters as price trebles
Irish oyster farmers, the second largest oyster producers in the EU, have been getting around €4,000 per ton, up from around €1,250 two years ago. This is largely due to a herpes virus afflicting oyster stocks in France, the EU’s largest producer.
The herpes virus (no relation to the human virus of the same name) has been sustained by warmer French waters. It primarily kills juvenile oysters. The vast majority of Irish stock has made it through to adulthood, thanks to the colder water.
