The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission will meet next week in Belle Grade and will take a final vote on a plan to reopen the Apalachicola Bay to oyster harvesting beginning in January.
The two-day meeting will be held November 5th and 6th at the Dolly Hand Cultural Arts Center at Palm Beach State College.
The Bay has been closed to wild oyster harvest since 2020 after the local oyster population collapsed in 2013.
Since then, researchers have been working to find the cause of the collapse and to rebuild the once productive oyster bars.
The FWC has been working on a plan that would allow a limited amount of commercial and recreational oyster harvesting in January and February, with a longer fall harvest beginning in October, 2026.
Under the proposal, oyster harvesting will only be allowed on about 95 acres of oyster bars with more than 400 bags of oysters per acre.
The state will also create an Apalachicola Bay Recreational Opportunity Permit for recreational harvesters who will be selected through a lottery process.
Commercial harvesting would be allowed Monday through Friday, while recreational harvesting would be allowed on weekends.
The FWC has scheduled the issue for a vote on November 5th in the afternoon.
The two-day meeting will be held November 5th and 6th at the Dolly Hand Cultural Arts Center at Palm Beach State College.
The Bay has been closed to wild oyster harvest since 2020 after the local oyster population collapsed in 2013.
Since then, researchers have been working to find the cause of the collapse and to rebuild the once productive oyster bars.
The FWC has been working on a plan that would allow a limited amount of commercial and recreational oyster harvesting in January and February, with a longer fall harvest beginning in October, 2026.
Under the proposal, oyster harvesting will only be allowed on about 95 acres of oyster bars with more than 400 bags of oysters per acre.
The state will also create an Apalachicola Bay Recreational Opportunity Permit for recreational harvesters who will be selected through a lottery process.
Commercial harvesting would be allowed Monday through Friday, while recreational harvesting would be allowed on weekends.
The FWC has scheduled the issue for a vote on November 5th in the afternoon.
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