FWC issues report blaming oyster fishery failure on poor federal water-management policies

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has completed a status report on the Florida Gulf Coast oyster disaster.

The governor’s office announced Monday that the report is complete and has been sent to the National Marine Fisheries Service.

The report finds that the oyster disaster is the consequence of low water flow due to water-management policies and overconsumption of the river water.

The problem was made worse by the impact of severe drought conditions experienced in the southeastern United States.

Prolonged low water flows resulted in higher salt content in the bay systems where oysters live.

Higher salt content led to more abundant oyster predators and natural oyster diseases.

Low freshwater flows also led to less food available for oysters.

The report also determined there was no evidence that the oyster disaster was caused by fishery management policies or the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

The report supports the Governor’s request to the United States Secretary of Commerce to declare a commercial fishery failure due to a fishery resource disaster for Florida’s oyster-harvesting areas in the Gulf of Mexico, particularly those in Apalachicola Bay.

A declaration of a commercial fishery failure would enable Congress to consider fisheries disaster funding to assist in restoring Florida’s Gulf Coast oyster resources and address economic impacts for the communities and the industries that rely on oyster harvesting.

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