Florida gets grant to help Franklin County oystermen

The governor’s office has announced that Florida has received federal funding for an oyster relay program designed to help local oystermen who are facing financial hardship because of the poor state of the local oyster crop. 

The State of Florida received approval Friday for a $2.7 million National Emergency Grant to provide temporary employment for Franklin County oystermen who are being adversely impacted due to the decline of oysters and other fisheries in the region.

The state of Florida made the request for disaster assistance to the U.S. Department of Labor in October.    

The Grant will go towards hiring 200 dislocated oystermen, working under the supervision of the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Affairs and the local Seafood Workers Association to reshell the Bay with live and dead oyster material from unaffected areas of the Bay to those oyster bars damaged by drought and this summers tropical storms.

The reshelling project will operate through June 30, 2013.

Because this is a federally funded program it will have requirements not seen in previous relaying and reshelling programs including mandatory drug tests for participants.

Participants will be paid an hourly wage, and will be employees of the leasing firm overseeing the project so they will get a W-2 form. 

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