Pew Comments to Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (PDF)
Temporary Halt to Wild Oyster Harvesting in Florida's Apalachicola Bay
On July 10, 2020, The Pew Charitable Trusts submitted a letter to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission in support of pausing wild oyster harvesting in Apalachicola Bay through 2025.
The famous Apalachicola Bay oysters once accounted for approximately 90% of all harvested oysters in Florida and 10% in the United States. But changes in water salinity, habitat loss, overfishing, and other problems decimated their populations.
A suspension will help protect what is left of the wild oyster reefs so they have a chance to repopulate while also providing managers, scientists, and stakeholders time to fully develop a recovery plan.
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U.S. Southeast coastal habitat and marine conservation news, analysis, and opportunities to act.
The Gulf of Mexico is an environmental and economic powerhouse. Its 600,000 square miles are home to some of the nation’s most productive fishing grounds and oyster beds as well as deep-sea corals and the country’s largest continuous seagrass beds.
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