State officials are taking a new look at a rule that many oystermen would like to see removed from the books. The rule in question bars oystermen from having tongs on the water before the sun rises.
That rule keeps oystermen from being able to leave for the oyster bars before daybreak so they can get an early start. Instead oystermen have to sit on the docks until sunrise and only then can they get head out for the bars.
The rule was approved as a way to keep oystermen from harvesting oysters at night but county commissioners feel the rule will have a negative impact if new summertime harvesting rules are approved later this year that will limit when oystermen can work. The proposed summertime rule would only allow oystermen to work from dawn until about 10:30 every morning during the summer in an effort to keep harvested oysters out of the hot summer sun. If that becomes the case, the earlier the oystermen can get to the bars the more time they’ll have to work and the more money they’ll be able to earn.
County commissioners have asked that the state repeal the oyster tong rule, and instead just make it illegal for oystermen to actually begin harvesting before the sun rises. The request was made to the Florida Department of Agriculture which has passed it on to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
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