NSW DPI Fisheries officers have collaborated with Eden Local Aboriginal Land Council and Sapphire Coast Wilderness Oysters to keep Pacific Oysters in check.
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Fisheries officers from the Far South Coast office have again joined forces with the Eden LALC and SCWO to undertake their annual effort to keep wild Pacific oyster numbers under control.
NSW DPI Fisheries provides the expertise and vessels, Eden LALC provides the land and sea rangers and SCWO funds the project.
While Pacific oysters are no longer declared a noxious fish in NSW, there are still places where their elevated numbers could cause detrimental impact to both the environment and commercial oyster growing operations DPI Fisheries said.
"The main ill effect they have is smothering foreshore areas and/or commercial oyster cultivation," the organisation posted on its Facebook page.
"The approach taken during our control effort is very simple, it's a bit like weeding a garden, and luckily, it only needs to be a once a year effort as oysters are relatively slow growing.
"The control team visits pre-identified 'hot spots' and then methodically works along the foreshore, counting and destroying any Pacific oysters they find.
"It sounds a little easier than what it is - the Pacific oysters are the masters of disguise and look very similar to the endemic Sydney rock oyster."
Team members are trained by experienced Fisheries officers before the control operations and are mentored further out on the water.
This time they visited both the Pambula and Merimbula estuaries across four days.
"In total, there were 2262 Pacific oysters destroyed, a really solid effort, including one record breaking daily tally of 970," Fisheries said.
