TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Countless oysters have washed up on a stretch of beach that runs approximately three to four kilometers in length and, according to a local organization, 80% of them are still alive and can be eaten if quickly collected.
Due to the impact of the southwest airflow last week, vast quantities of oysters have washed up on the Sicao Coast of Taijiang National Park in Tainan City's Annan District. Li Chin-tien (李進添), secretary of the Tainan City Mangrove Protection Association was cited by Liberty Times as saying that he happened to pass by the area on Saturday (April 22) and was "petrified" by the scene at the beach.
Li said that three to four kilometers of the beach was covered with oysters that had been washed ashore by waves. He pointed out that this would be considered a heavy loss for the local oyster industry.
According to Li, this is currently the oyster harvesting period. However, due to the southwesterly airflow a few days ago, the water level on the Sicao Coast was relatively shallow and the oyster beds were ravaged by big waves for three straight days.
The waves knocked many of the oyster racks placed by oyster farmers into the sea and the shellfish then washed ashore with the tide on Saturday, forming an "oyster coast," said Li. However, oysters cultured off other parts of Tainan were relatively unaffected as they are in deeper water, stated Li.
The newspaper cited an oyster farmer as estimating that the battering by the waves caused a loss of about 30% to 40%. "Everyone's heart is aching," said the farmer of the local oyster cultivation industry.
Li estimated that 80% of the oysters are still alive and those who want to eat free oysters should hurry up and pick up as many as they want. Otherwise, the tide will become low in a few days and if the oysters at the high tide mark are not reached by the tide, they will start to die after being exposed to the sun and will start to rot after three days.
Oysters washed up on the Sicao Coast. (Lin Chin-tien photo)