Thousands of juvenile oysters have been stolen from a business on South Australia's west coast with its owner posting a reward for information leading to the culprits being convicted.
James Boylan has offered a $1,000 reward after an estimated 12,000 juvenile oysters, known as spat, were poached from his Smoky Bay farm, near Ceduna.
He said there was a national shortage of spat and the stolen product would be easy to dispose of on the black market.
"Oh it'd be very easy to get rid of it," he said.
"There's a shortage right throughout the state and throughout Australia, and someone could quite easily sell it off for cash or grow it out for somebody who has not got any stock.
"You know that's the thing, no-one's got stock."
Police and Fisheries compliance officers are investigating the theft.
The national shortage is a result of an outbreak of Pacific Oyster Mortality Syndrome (POMS) in Tasmania in 2016, which meant production of baby Pacific oysters could not be sent to key growing areas of South Australia and parts of New South Wales.
