Improving early detection of exotic or emergent oyster diseases in France: identifying factors associated with shellfish farmer reporting behaviour of oyster mortality

Farmers’ vigilance is essential for the detection of epidemics, including potential emerging diseases, in marine shellfish. A field study was conducted to investigate oyster farmers’ reporting practices and behaviour, and to identify factors influencing the reporting process of oyster mortality, with the ultimate aim of improving early detection of unexplained oyster mortality outbreaks. A retrospective case-control study of oyster farmers from Charente-Maritime (France) was designed, based on interviews with 27 non-reporting and 89 reporting farmers, further split into 40 formerly-reporting and 49 currently-reporting farmers. Information about farmer and farm characteristics, farming practices, farm health history and related financial compensation on the farm, knowledge of the mortality reporting system and reporting behaviour was collected. Sampling design was considered in the calculations and farmers’ reporting behaviour was modelled using an ordinal logistic regression (continuation-ratio model). Notification procedures were fairly well known among farmers and the reporting system was well accepted overall. Nevertheless, a lack of awareness of the aims of the reporting system was revealed, which contributed to late reporting. Factors identified as driving a farmer's decision to report oyster mortality concerned their lack of awareness of mortality reporting (production type, farm size, location of the production cycle, accessibility of the leasing grounds) and willingness to report (possibility and extent of financial compensation, a feeling of not being involved, whether it was first year of reporting). Overall classification performance of the model built in this study was 64%. In particular, financial compensation for oyster production losses appeared to be a clear incentive for reporting, but was countered by a habituation effect combined with a lack of awareness of the aims of the reporting system: oyster farmers looking for benefits for themselves in reporting, rather than early detection of a disease outbreak. Both economic compensation and the farmers’ non-economic values and perceptions should be considered to improve oyster farmers’ reporting compliance and sustainability of the reporting system. Education and participatory approaches could help to change these attitudes and thus improve oyster farmers’ compliance with reporting duties, resulting in improved early detection of epidemics and emerging or exotic oyster diseases