Farmers fight back against oyster rustlers

Police are cracking down on oyster theft and it's not just the lost income that has farmers worried. (AAP)

Oysters probably aren't high on the hit list of most crooks, but some farmers are shelling out thousands of dollars a year to the maritime crime.

Oyster farmer Paul Wilson told AAP that while each theft was relatively minor, he'd likely lost tens of thousands of dollars over the course of his 45 years in the industry.