Posted Wed 26 Aug 2026 at 2:53pmWed 26 Aug 2026 at 2:53pmRyan Freeman has been growing oysters for the last six years. (Supplied: Ryan Freeman)In short:Police are investigating the theft of 400,000 oysters from leases on the NSW Mid North Coast.An oyster grower says he is back to square one, estimating as much as $400,000 worth of stock was stolen. What's next?NSW Police say they are investigating the alleged theft of $350,000 worth of oysters.Police are investigating after hundreds of thousands of oysters were stolen from leases on the New South Wales Mid North Coast.Ryan Freeman runs Latitude 31 Oysters, which operates leases on Scotts Creek at Oxley Island.Police said 320 aquaculture oyster bags containing 400,000 juvenile oysters were stolen from the property.Mr Freeman said he noticed the oysters were missing in the Manning River near Old Bar on Tuesday morning, when he went down to check on them to get them ready for Christmas."We noticed our floating gear and tumblers were missing," he said.Police said the estimated value of the oysters was approximately $350,000.Mr Freeman said, in total, as much as $400,000 worth of stock and equipment was stolen."It's going to have a massive impact, we're only recovering from the floods last year," he said.Ryan Freeman owns oyster leases in the Manning River, Karuah River and Port Stephens region. (Supplied: Ryan Freeman)Mr Freeman said 80 per cent of the stock stolen was going to be sold come Christmas time."We probably get through 35-40,000 dozen at Christmas time," Mr Freeman said."That’s why the thieves would have targeted them because they're not going to be far off, they're going to be able to sell them this Christmas." Mr Freeman said there was not enough time to look for more stock."It takes three to four years to grow a Sydney rock oyster," he said.The oyster leases are located on the New South Wales Mid North Coast at Manning Point. (Supplied: Ryan Freeman)Mr Freeman said he did not know how many oysters he had left, but so far he had lost a third of his livestock."I understand everyone is doing it tough, but I don't believe stealing and taking from someone else is going to help someone else; all you've done is take someone else out for a small reward and high risk," he said."It's going to take us a few years to recover and all they've done is put us back another two to three years."Police are urging anyone with information, including CCTV footage, to come forward.