Oyster industry eyes $6.3 million federal grant

APALACHICOLA — It wasn’t long ago when Apalachicola Bay oyster boats could fill the daily catch limit of 20 10-gallon buckets easily.
Today, they struggle to fill two.
“It’s bad. ... It’s really bad out there,” said Shannon Hartsfield, president of the Franklin County Seafood Workers Association. “We should be on the upper end getting better.”
At a selling point of $44 per bag, minus the cost of fuel, two bags of oysters per day is not enough, Hartsfield said. In 2012, the industry saw its lowest harvest in more than two decades.
Now the small fishing community is hopeful a $6.3 million federal grant may help restore what was lost.
According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), between 2007 and 2011 Apalachicola Bay oyster landings accounted for 92 percent of the state’s oyster landings and 8 percent of all U.S. landings. The number is considerably less now.
The grant, released last week by the National Atmospheric and Oceanic Administration, will be used to fund oyster restoration and job training for out-of-work anglers through a series of programs administered by the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO).
The bulk of the funding, about $4.5 million, will go toward restoration through shelling, a process that involves placing oyster shells in the shallow bay areas to improve habitat. About $2.8 million will go toward hand shelling by local oystermen, while the remainder will fund shelling conducted by barge through the FWC and Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (DACS).
The grant also includes $770,000 to upgrade oyster-processing facilities, $540,000 for vocational education and training and $415,000 for bay monitoring.
The DEO will work locally with CareerSource Gulf Coast (CSGC) for both the hand shelling and vocational components in an effort to get those displaced by fishery failure in Franklin County back to work.
“We remain dedicated to helping folks in the region revitalize the fishery, while providing support for their transition to other career fields,” said CSGC executive director Kim Bodine. “Developing workforce options for some of our oystermen, and assisting with the shelling program, contributes greatly to the economic vitality of the area.”
Bodine said CSGC will enlist between 150 and 200 people to conduct the hand shelling, a process that will begin in about four to six weeks. Although barge shelling may be quicker, it doesn’t put people back to work, she said.
“When you barge shell, although you are able to put a lot of oyster shells out, it doesn’t provide a lot of jobs to people,” said Bodine, who indicated the program was a collaboration between the state departments like the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP), DEO, FWC and DACS, along with the Seafood Management Assistance Recovery Team, a group of local industry workers. “Hand shelling was one of the biggest asks. ... It’s good for the bay and it’s good for the economy.”
However, Hartsfield expressed disappointment by the inclusion of barge shelling.
Hartsfield said he believes the efforts will help Franklin County oystermen “a little bit” but wishes the state departments would have involved more of the community in the process.
“The local people know what needs to be done,” Hartsfield said. “The industry, we know what we need. Give us a chance at it.”