Oyster farmers defy authorities, refuse to sell their oysters

Paris - In a bizarre twist, oyster farmers from one of France's most prestigious shellfish regions are refusing to sell their oysters despite the decision by local authorities to lift a ban on their produce, the daily Liberation reported Friday.

The decision by the majority of the 350 oyster farms in the Arcachon Bay in western France was taken at a raucous meeting in the town of Audenge following the announcement Thursday by the authorities in the Gironde region to lift the ban on the sale and consumption of their oysters.

According to the report, the oyster farmers decided to withhold their produce from sale until the results are made public of an autopsy on one of two people suspected of having died from eating Arcachon oysters.

'The (agriculture) ministry told us that the (forensic) analysis on the second person will be finished within ten days. We hope that our decision will speed up the process,' oyster farmer Joel Dupuch told Liberation.

The ban on oysters from the Arcachon Bay, considered the most delicious of French shellfish, was imposed August 31 after tests detected an unknown toxin in the oysters. Several days later, two people who had eaten Arcachon oysters died from toxic shock.

Source: Monsters and Critics.com