The Wakulla Commercial Fisherman’s Association (WCFA) voted unanimously this week to ask Florida’s Division of Aquaculture to put a hold on its plan for more oyster-farm leases along Wakulla County’s coastline until all of Wakulla’s existing oyster leases are being used.
The WCFA, joined by members of the Franklin County Seafood Workers Association and Wakulla County Commissioner Chuck Hess, called for the moratorium after Aquaculture director, Kal Knickerbocker, told a packed hall of commercial fishermen and oyster-farm leaseholders on Feb. 21, that 20 of the 43 leases in Wakulla’s waters were not being worked (Aquaculture is a division of the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services led by Commissioner Adam Putnam).
“Why should Agriculture put oyster farms where we have fished and crabbed for generations to make a living?” said John Taylor, president of WCFA. “It doesn’t make sense to take away our income in order to take a chance on oyster-farming making money.”
Since 2013, Bob Ballard, director of the Wakulla Environmental Institute of the Tallahassee Community College, has been offering interest-free loans as high as $15,400 to his hand-picked oyster-program students, but, years later, students have failed to make enough money from oyster sales to pay back hundreds of thousands of dollars in loans – funded in part by TCC’s Foundation, Career Source/Capital Region (located in TCC’s Wakulla Center) and state tax dollars.
“I haven’t made a cent,” said Robert Seidler, a videographer and one of Ballard’s 2014 TCC/WEI students, as quoted in The Wakulla News Feb. 26 article praising oyster farming.
In addition to Wakulla’s 43 existing oyster leases, averaging 1.5 acres each. Aquaculture has assigned 16 more 1.5-acre leases and is now trying to place more in Wakulla waters.
Of the 43 leases, Aquaculture awarded one to Ballard’s 82-year-old mother, and, of the 16 newest leases, Aquaculture awarded two to Wakulla County commissioner Jerry Moore and his wife, Virginia.
In addition, Ballard and Moore have formed an oyster for-profit corporation, now renting office space in the WEI building, with the prospect of buying oysters from Ballard’s students.
If Aquaculture moves forward on its plan to put more submerged-land leases (oyster farms) in Wakulla County waters, the next official step will be to ask for approval by the Governor and Cabinet.
“Agriculture says oyster farms are in the public interest, but how can it be in the public interest to put more commercial fishermen out of business?” Taylor said.
http://live.oysterradio.com/
No comments:
Post a Comment