Florida State University is moving forward with a program called the Apalachicola Bay System initiative

Florida State University is moving forward with a program called the Apalachicola Bay System initiative – its mission is to gain insight into the root causes of decline of the Apalachicola Bay ecosystem and ultimately to develop a restoration plan focused on the recovery of the bay.

In 2019, Florida State University received 8 million dollars in BP Oil spill money to fund the program.

FSU will contribute $1.5 million toward the project.

The FSU Marine Lab in St. Teresa will use the money over 10 years to try to figure out what's gone wrong with the oysters and hopefully restore the industry.

The project would include a scientific investigation into what factor are actually damaging the oysters followed by the creation of a scientific plan to restore the bay.

Until recently, Apalachicola Bay accounted for approximately 10 percent of the nation’s Eastern oyster supply. 

The oyster industry in Apalachicola collapsed in 2012 leading to a Commercial Fisheries Disaster Declaration from the U.S. Department of Commerce in 2013. 

Earlier this summer the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission began a 5 year moratorium on oyster harvesting in the Apalachicola Bay to help the oysters regrow.

If you would like to keep up with the work being done by Florida State University to find the root causes of the decline of the oyster population in the Apalachicola Bay, you can sign up to get the group's newsletters.

The first newsletter was issued last week.

They plan on issuing a newsletter about every two months.

You can register on-line at https://marinelab.fsu.edu/absi/cab/

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