Problem: Oyster farmers on the Hawkesbury River working under the name of Broken Bay Oysters were under pressure to remove derelict oyster materials causing concern for river health and navigational safety. For the industry recovering from the QX parasite and subsequent downturn in business cleaning up the river was a road to recovery.
Outcome: A large cleanup effort already underway was supplemented by focusing on remaining sites containing asbestos poles and slates once used in oyster production. These sites have no known links to current farmers, and as such no one owned the problem. Tide to Table funds were utilised to remove and dispose of the material which had lingered as a reminder of poor past practices. Broken Bay Oysters were also assisted to create an Environmental Management System to document actions and issues requiring attention and activities that are already being done to environmental best practice standards.
"It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change." SOURCE: Charles Darwin 1809 - 1882
