The industry faces possible ruin after three catastrophic die-offs in the last seven years.
In one way or another, water is a defining feature of life in Ireland. So are oysters.
Water is used for business and for leisure, and much of our tourism economy is based on it. So maintaining its quality is a serious matter.
And to date, Ireland’s record has been somewhat patchy.
The general manager of a Dungarvan-based oyster farm, Cliona Mhic Giolla Chuda, told The Pat Kenny Show that an increasing amount of oysters were found dead in recent years.
“In 2025, in the same week of the year, the first week in August, when we returned from holidays, we found that an awful lot of the oysters were dead and continued dying for another week or two.
Ms Mhic Giolla Chuda told Newstalk that the losses were a huge blow to the industry as she was one of many companies affected with sales dropping nine million in the span of two years.
“We have brought together a lot of bodies, including the Minister of State, Dooley, BIM, Marine Institute, EPA, Irish Water, Lawpro, Waterford Council. We've got pretty good cooperation overall.
Currently, the cause of mortality has yet to be identified.
“We do have a lot of monitoring from the Bay around environmental factors temperature, salinity, phytoplankton, biotoxins, and none of those revealed anything”, Ms Mhic Giolla Chuda said.
“So we're left with the impression that it's a pollution event of some sort.”
Cliona appealed to the local community “to be their eyes and ears”.
“If they notice anything unusual in the water, if they see, God forbid, anybody dumping stuff into the sea or into rivers, if they notice really anything untoward, natural or unnatural, please either contact us or contact Waterford Council.
"Then we can try to get to the bottom of this and hopefully our businesses will survive”, she told Newstalk.
Environmental Correspondent with The Irish Times, Caroline O’Doherty said in order to identify the cause of such mass contamination “you need to know what you’re looking for.”
“You're dealing with oysters, you're dealing with tidal conditions there, but also with rivers.
“You're dealing with a constant throughput of water. So, yeah, the evidence could well be gone if there isn't an immediate detection.”
She explained that Ireland’s water is managed by multiple organisations such as Uisce Eireann and the Environmental Protection Agency.
River Bandon as it nears Kinsale, County Cork, Republic of Ireland. Image: Ken Welsh / Alamy. 24 August 2016“The local authorities are responsible most directly and also responsible for the kind of smaller industrial units that may have wastewater discharge licenses.
“The EPA looks after the big companies and big factories and big manufacturing plants and processes, food processors who would have bigger licenses.”
Main Image: Oysters.
