AUSTRALIAN OYSTER FARM REPORTS THEFT OF 400,000 OYSTERS

Wed 26 August 2026:

Australian authorities have opened a probe into the theft of roughly 400,000 young oysters from aquaculture sites along New South Wales’ Mid North Coast, local outlets reported on Wednesday.

ABC News stated that about 320 bags holding the oysters were taken from Latitude 31 Oysters’ lease at Scotts Creek on Oxley Island.

Farm owner Ryan Freeman discovered the theft Tuesday morning when he visited the leases in the Manning River near Old Bar to prepare the oysters for the Christmas season.

“We noticed our floating gear and tumblers were missing,” Freeman said.

Police estimated the oysters’ value at approximately 350,000 Australian dollars ($233,000), while Freeman said the stolen stock and equipment could be worth as much as 400,000 AUD ($266,000).

Around 80% of the stolen oysters had been intended for sale during Christmas, when the business typically sells between 35,000 and 40,000 dozen oysters, he added.

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Freeman said the thieves may have targeted the stock because it was approaching marketable size and could be sold during the festive season.

The theft wiped out roughly one-third of the farm’s livestock, with insufficient time remaining to secure replacement stock.

Police urged anyone with relevant information or surveillance footage to contact investigators.

Oyster farmer Gary Rodley, who owns Tathra Oysters on the NSW south coast, said fully grown oysters could be worth significantly more, estimating they could fetch about $1.50 to $2 a piece.

The age of the stolen molluscs and the amount taken suggests the culprit could be a fellow producer, he said.

Many oyster farmers, including Rodley, have bought surveillance equipment to act as a deterrent as demand for Sydney rock oysters has grown.

“They’re a rare oyster that only grow up and down the New South Wales coastline, so they’re a very, very small percentage of the world’s oyster crop,” he said.

“It’s regarded as probably the best flavoured oyster in the world by a lot of people – they’re a very flavoursome oyster and highly regarded as a table oyster that’s eaten natural.

“That’s a particular set of circumstances that a lot of people value highly.”

A Manning River oyster farmer, who wished to remain anonymous, said there had been a recent shortage of the coveted Sydney rock oyster.

Major flooding in 2021 and 2025 wiped oyster stocks in the region, and because Sydney rock oysters are farmed on a three-year cycle, it could take another two years before farmers’ incomes stabilise.

“The worst case scenario is it could be someone within the industry that has had a shortfall, who has gone past that area of the river and knows it only gets used certain times of year, and they’ve gone ‘they’ll never know until they get back’,” he said.

Theft is not uncommon in the Manning River area, but when he has been targeted, his oysters were taken by locals who had all year to scope out the area.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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