Red tides are seemingly not giving up ion restoring the oyster industry in Namibia. The local oysters farmers who have been dealt a huge blow in production following heavy loss and so they have decided to identify workable strategies that would rescue the industry. The bloom of algae that is responsible for the feared red tide resulted in more than 75 percent damage to oyster production forcing the stakeholders to look at new ways of handling the crisis.
Most farmers agreed to introduce new measures and believe that there are still enough opportunities to restock their farms and recover the losses incurred. According to them this will be done with the assistance of researchers, whose duty will be to devise means through which the oyster industry would cope with the red tide condition. Researches should be done to seek information on infrastructure improvement and other variables such as determining correct water temperatures and depth that best suit oyster production during red tide conditions.
It is said that researches should be carried on to make the osiers adapt conditions similar to those prevailing during a red tide, such as poor oxygen levels in water. And this would be done by retrieving the oysters from the water and placing them on land for at least two hours in a 24-hour cycle. Considering the huge losses incurred, oyster farmers raised concerns about the insurance of their products.
The authorities has advised the farmers to seriously monitor the genetic composition of oysters they farm with so that they could determine which type adapt well to harsh conditions such as those experienced during a red tide. The fisheries ministry reported earlier that they had managed to save close to 12 tons of lobsters from human greed as a step to stricter measures.
