Wednesday 8 August 2012

” And all the little Oysters stood, and waited in a row.”

Groups of up to 40 Asians have been spotted regularly working on Chalkwell beach. They have even been risking their lives in stormy conditions to collect the shellfish.
There are also concerns about the way they are removing the oysters and leaving sharp shells littering the beach. A number of bathers have cut their feet.
For once, the newspaper description would appear not to be an attempt to obfuscate the ethnic origins of the suspects!
Oysters picked from the Thames Estuary need purifying before being sold as “fresh”, or there is a risk of food poisoning. Yet workers are opening the shells on the beach and keeping the meat in anything from empty cooking oil containers to ice cream cartons.
It is not clear where the delicacies are being taken or whose plates they end up on.
A quick check of the Chinese takeaways should provide a clue!

You’d think the local council would be on them like a greyhound on a hare, wouldn’t you? You’d be wrong:
Peter Wexham, Southend Council Lib Dem councillor for Leigh ward, said: “The pickers go out at low tide in all weathers.
“Even in Sunday’s storms and squalls, they were out picking.
“Nobody knows if they’re illegal immigrants or not, but they are working for peanuts. It’s all a black market trade.
“They’ve been using plastic tubs which hold up to five gallons and they leave the broken shells behind.
“I’ve been on to the council to do something. The council, pier and foreshore and environmental health all refer you on to somebody else.”
What a shocker…
His fears were echoed by Martin Terry, independent Southend councillor. He said: “I reported seeing some of these pickers a month ago. I’m angry about the inaction and bureaucractic nonsense, where the authorities say it’s not their responsibility.
“We had a problem previously with gang masters sending pickers from London.
"We cannot afford this risk to our fishing industry, jobs and local economy.”
It is apparently legal to pick for your own consumption, though a license is required for commercial enterprises.

A fact that seems to be well known to the pickers themselves, who know just what to say:
Five Asian oyster pickers were harvesting along the shoreline yesterday, including a boy of about six. A teenage girl, who did not want to be identified, said: “We have come here for the day from central London to have fun and pick oysters.”
A man, said to be from the same family group, was seen wheeling a sack of oysters on a barrow. When asked what the oysters would be used, for the teenaged girl said: “We boil them for soup and food, but for ourselves only.”
Older members would not answer questions and indicated the younger ones should not divulge any further information.
So it seems no-one will do anything. Until, of course, it's too late...

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I was at beautiful Oxwich Bay in Gower last year. A couple of Chinese families arrived and spent about 4 hours removing razorfish (a shellfish despite the name) from the beach - hundreds of them, obviously destined for a restaurant. They're not difficult to catch - anglers use them as bait, but you just get a few of them, not a dozen large bucketfuls.

It's the tragedy of the multicultural commons.

Laban

Macheath said...

A couple of years ago, when I included this quote from a marine biologist...

'Effluent is concentrated in river estuaries and coastal areas, which is where shrimps and other marine life live - this means that shrimps are taking on the excreted drugs of whole towns.'

...you commented:

Better avoid any shrimp caught near Canvey Island then, unless you want to find yourself on the run from the police in a rural area, hotly pursued by Kay Burley in a newscopter!

Does the same thing apply to oysters, I wonder...

Woman on a Raft said...

As far as being on the run is concerned, a contaminated oyster will do it every time.

Anonymous said...

Compared with the the other "Asian" minorities exploits this seems like pretty minor stuff. I'd take a bit of black market shellfish selling over paedofilic grooming and terrorist plotting anyday.

Anonymous said...

What it needs is someone to let the Council know there are a number of white, Anglo-Saxon, people all wearing Christian clerical garb, collecting these shellfish. No doubt the Council will be out like a rat up a drainpipe.
Penseivat

JuliaM said...

"A couple of Chinese families arrived and spent about 4 hours removing razorfish (a shellfish despite the name) from the beach..."

I've seen those cooked on 'Saturday Kitchen' - quite the trend in fancy London restaurants, apparently. Always meant to try them one day.

"A couple of years ago, when I included this quote from a marine biologist..."

You have a great memory! :)

"As far as being on the run is concerned, a contaminated oyster will do it every time."

Oh yes! *shudder*

"What it needs is someone to let the Council know there are a number of white, Anglo-Saxon, people all wearing Christian clerical garb, collecting these shellfish."

Heh!