Nearly 1700 Apalachicola Bay oyster harvesting licenses sold in 2012

Nearly 1700 Apalachicola Bay oyster harvesting licenses were sold by the Department of Agriculture this year.

The state sold 1686 licenses this year, 187 of the licenses were sold to first time harvesters.

That’s down a little from 2011 when 1798 of the licenses were purchased.

The highest number of licenses ever sold was in 2010 – the year of the BP oil spill – when 1893 licenses were purchased.

Under normal circumstances, licenses for the fiscal year that begins July 1st have to be obtained between May 17 and June 30 or applicants face a $500 late fee.  

The deadline was extended by two weeks this year because of Tropical Storm Debby which hit the county in late June.

The state has license sale numbers dating back to 1989 and says that on average they sell just over 800 licenses a year.

And while there were nearly 1700 oyster licenses sold this year, that doesn’t mean that there are that many oystermen actively working.  

Many local people buy the 100 dollar licenses every year as insurance against future unemployment.

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