Local seafood workers describe dire conditions of local oyster bars

Local seafood workers say that the bay is in very bad shape and they need help as quickly as possible.

County commissioners heard from a number of oystermen on Tuesday – almost all had the same assessment – that the oysters in the bay have been demolished by recent storms and there is not enough product to keep people working.

Some seafood workers feel that the problem may actually go beyond recent weather events and that the bay could be feeling the long-term impacts of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill from 2010.

Shannon Hartsfield, the president of the Franklin County Seafood Workers Association, said that all oyster harvesting areas that he has worked are showing few to no oysters.

Many of the oysters are freshly dead – likely because of the freshwater from heavy rains this summer – and from tidal surge from the storms.

The live oysters that oystermen are finding are small.

Oystermen are also seeing very little spat on the oysters, which doesn’t bode well for future oyster crops.

Mister Hartsfield said that something has to be done immediately because oystermen are already having a hard time paying their bills and mortgages, and things are just going to get worse.

Many other oystermen agreed – one said the current oyster situation is the worst he has seen since 1985 when Franklin County was hit by major hurricanes.

Commissioner Smokey Parrish said the problem is not limited to oysters.

Fishermen are also seeing fewer shrimp, crab, flounder and just about every other species that generally thrives here.

Many people pointed out that while the problem might be limited to seafood workers right now, it will expand to the larger economy unless something is done.

If seafood workers don’t have money, then they won’t be able to spend at local businesses, and that is going to impact everyone.

Oystermen and commissioners agreed that right now the county needs to find immediate funding to start shelling and seeding the bay which can at least start repairing the damage and to provide immediate money to seafood workers who are struggling.

The county commission took a number of steps to begin addressing the problem.

The board declared a local state of emergency in the hopes that will allow the county to tap in to state money to fund some rebuilding projects.

They also agreed to contact every state and federal legislator that deals with Franklin County to make sure they are aware of the issues currently impacting the seafood industry.

The board will also hold an emergency meeting with the Department of Agriculture and the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to discuss other actions the county might be able to take.

That meeting will be held on Thursday evening at 5 PM at the Franklin County courthouse Annex in Apalachicola.

Emergency Management Director Pam Brownell said seafood workers should also apply for unemployment and food stamps – even if the applications are not accepted, applying will still show the state that there is a need in the county.

Registering for those programs is done on-line and people without computers can get assistance at the county libraries.

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