APALACHICOLA — Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam said state officials must be ready to assist thousands of families whose lives would be impacted if the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission shuts down oyster harvesting in Apalachicola Bay.
Putnam wouldn’t go so far as to say he’d support closing the Northwest Florida bay to harvesting, but he expressed confidence in the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s biologists who are working to revive the waterway, which has struggled from over-harvesting and a reduction in water coming out of Georgia.
“If that’s the conclusion their scientists come to, we’re going to respect a lot of their work,” Putnam told reporters Friday. “And if that’s the conclusion they come to, then all of us across state government need to be prepared to move in and assist those families that will be devastated.”
(More: Oystermen express concerns)
No action has been taken since Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Executive Director Nick Wiley advised the commission Sept. 10 that the closure may be needed.
“It’s very likely that we’re going to have to entertain a possible complete closure of the Apalachicola oyster harvest,” Wiley said during a meeting in Kissimmee. “We want to take that very carefully, and only do that if everybody feels that’s what we have to do.”
On Friday, the threat of closure spurred seafood workers in Franklin County to angrily confront the president of their workers association. Oystermen are receiving record prices per bag but are facing a scarcity of oysters. Some oystermen privately acknowledge closing the bay might help replenish supplies but are worried that even a short-term closure eventually could lead to privatized aquaculture in the bay or to no harvests.
The meeting had been called to outline a $4.5 million shelling program coming from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
In August, the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission implemented new conservation measures for the winter, from closing certain commercial and recreational areas to lowering the number of oysters people can harvest.
The oyster population has been hurt, in part, because of a reduction in water flowing south from Georgia. Since 1990, control of water in the river system shared by Florida, Georgia and Alabama has been the subject of lengthy litigation.
Recent rulings have favored Georgia. Last fall, Gov. Rick Scott announced a new lawsuit against Georgia in the U.S. Supreme Court.
Wiley has said there may not be “a bright recovery” until the water flow issue is resolved.
(More: Oystermen express concerns)
The region has been listed as a declared fishery-resource disaster by the federal government since August 2013. Wiley has said the conditions have only gotten worse, which is what required the new winter harvest rules.
Putnam said he’s yet to be briefed on the latest reports from the agency’s biologists.
“It is a big step to take, and I know they don’t consider it lightly,” Putnam said.
