Letter to the Southland Express

The article in last week's Southland Express warning shellfish eaters not to eat their favoured food from the Jacob's River Estuary for five days following heavy rain, a change from the previous two day ban, makes sorry reading indeed.


That we have come to the point where the stand-down times for safe shellfish gathering has more than doubled in recent times is a sad comment on the abuse our rivers are suffering. That we can't freely swim in, drink from or eat the fishes that swim in our rivers is bad enough but to hear that the situation is worsening is appalling. The culprit, according to the research described in your article? Contaminants being washed off the land into the river.

A bad situation, getting worse.