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A MYSTERY illness has led to the death of millions of Pacific oysters in Port Stephens during the past year casting doubt on the future of the $1.5 million a year industry. Both wild and farmed Pacific oysters have been dying since the beginning of 2013 and while all efforts are being made to determine the cause, manager of aquaculture at Fisheries NSW Ian Lyall said none had been pinpointed yet. "We've done 60 submissions to the The Elizabeth Macarthur Agricultural Institute and scientists are working really hard," he said. Mr Lyall said there was no human risk and Pacific Oyster Mortality Syndrome (POMS), a disease which affected Pacific Oysters in the Georges River, Parramatta River and the Hawkesbury River, had also been ruled out. "We have not identified a disease agent," he said. At this stage Mr Lyall said further investigations on oysters were being made but scientists were also looking at water quality with the heat a possible contributing factor. It is news that has lead Mr Lyall to urge oyster farmers in the area to diversify the types of oyster they grow and the estuaries they use. "We encourage risk management," he said. Two million flat oysters were supplied to oyster growers recently to help diversify and disease resistant oysters have also been developed by NSW fisheries and growers are encouraged to use these. Mr Lyall said the oyster industry in Port Stephens as a whole was worth about $6 million a year and Pacific oysters made up about $1.5 million worth of the total figure. A transmission trial, where a dying oyster is introduced to healthy oysters, is the next test to take place but results are expected to take a couple of months.

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Dying oysters a mystery