"I won't buy from them, and I won't have anything to do with them," said Beckham, owner of Cedar Key Oyster & Clam Co., a seafood processor, packer and store at the edge of the city. A single oyster can filter 50 gallons of water each day. The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. When less freshwater flows from the Apalachicola River into the bay, the salinity levels go up. "We quit buying them a year ago," he said. A fishing vessel plying the waters of Apalachicola Bay. In the best of times, he was bringing in up to fourteen bags of oysters a day. But they're hard to find on the menu today.Leaving reefs alone for a number of years, she says, will allow the population to regenerate. The dockside dollar value of that catch declined 98% over that time period, according to the Florida Division of Marine Fisheries management. Apalachicola oysters, considered a delicacy on the half-shell, used to account for 90% of Florida's oyster harvest. But other oystermen worry closing the bay will be a final devastating blow. Your opinions are important to us. "I'm a seafood harvester as well," she said. "He agreed with Georgia's argument that Florida oystermen over-harvested oysters after the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill to prevent them from being contaminated. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has unanimously voted to shut down the state's iconic Apalachicola oyster fishery after years of drought and other pressures have devastated wild oyster beds. August 22, 2019 "The epic collapse of Apalachicola and the peril faced at Cedar Key have underscored the larger role of oysters beyond being served on the half shell as slightly salty appetizers.Oyster reefs, and their eco-cousins of coral, mangroves, seagrass and salt marsh, make food, shelter and overall habitat for entire communities of aquatic life. Now he says there are only a handful that regularly work these waters. Debbie Elliott/NPR Hartsfield, 51, is a fourth generation seafood worker in Franklin County. But they're hard to find on the menu today. The oyster fishery here dates to the mid-1800s. Florida also lifted some harvesting restrictions in Apalachicola Bay, and "the oyster harvests in 2011 and 2012 were significantly higher than any previous harvests since 1986, when Florida began collecting data consistently," Kelly said in his report.He said drought was a more significant cause of the low flows than Georgia’s consumption and Georgia's water consumption had been reasonable. If Georgia isn’t forced to let more water flow into the Apalachicola, the river and the oyster industry that relies on it are doomed, Florida officials have told the Supreme Court.In the latest chapter in the years-long water war between the two states, Florida is asking the high court to reject a recommendation by Special Master Paul Kelly Jr. that Florida be denied a decree allocating water between the states.
State Representative Jason Shoaf represents the region in the Florida legislature, and says he was skeptical of the plan at first.
He was taught by his father the backbreaking skill of standing on the deck of a small boat while wielding tongs that could clutch onto shells deep under water.During its prime, the bay was speckled with hundreds of the iconic oyster boats.Hurricanes Kate and Elena in 1985 walloped the bay and its oyster fishery, a blow that took several years to recover from.Also unfolding then was a rancorous legal war between Florida and Georgia over the amount of water taken by the Atlanta metro area from the river system flowing to the Apalachicola River and to the bay.Georgia leaders rebuffed Florida's allegations that too much water was being removed, driving up salinity and killing oysters in Apalachicola Bay. "We keep on seeing the bay trying to come back, but it's so little left out there to where it's just a struggling industry." "It's a difficult decision, but it's the best decision," says Riverkeeper Georgia Ackerman. The last ones I ate, at a now-closed Apalachicola seafood joint called Boss Oyster, were fresh from Apalachicola Bay. The combination of salt and fresh water found in the Apalachicola Bay was the perfect level for the oyster population, but the reduction in fresh water flow from the river has caused the bay to become significantly saltier.