Seafood News - Industry Events - Seafood Market

Miami Herald    27/11/2004 08:43:34

Harvesters and seafood dealers say demand for Apalachicola Bay oysters has dropped after reports of sickness and two recent deaths in Florida linked to eating the shellfish raw.

Rocky Moore said his sales at Little Bay II Inc. are down 35 percent. Others say out-of-town businesses that normally would get 100 bags a week have ordered none.

The Thanksgiving holiday is the biggest time of year for oyster consumption.

Restaurant owners and oyster eaters are scared, said David Barber of Barber's Seafood Inc.

''What can you say?'' Barber asked. ``Someone has died because of oysters. It's a difficult situation, but it's not the whole story. This thing has made national news.

'I had somebody from Key West just call me and say, `They're saying the oysters are bad.' It's tough.''

There are about a dozen seafood distributors in Franklin County, which historically harvests 90 percent of the state's oysters and 10 percent of the nation's supply.

Some oystermen refuse to talk about the situation.

''Every time somebody gets sick, the headlines come out,'' Moore said. ``Every time somebody eats chicken and gets sick from salmonella, you don't hear about it.''

The culprit in oysters is Vibrio vulnificus. The bacteria that often is found in bays and other waters has killed at least 10 people in Florida this year, including three who had eaten raw oysters, state health officials said.