I'm sure the drought has had a major affect on them. It's kept my SW GA pond dry the last 14 years off and on. More dry than wet. There are probably other factors and cycles we don't know about. Now this is just my uneducated opinion but I think this report shows the main problem with the oysters. When you keep taking them from closed areas, over the limit, too small, not culled, and not returning the substrate or shells or what ever the oysters need to attach to to grow, well eventually you kill the resource. I'm glad to see the FWC catching some illegal harvesters but really is up to a $500 fine going to stop them? The prospect of up to 60 days of jail is there but I've never heard personally of that being imposed.
http://www.tallahassee.com/article/2014 ... dentified-
The five individuals cited for illegal oyster harvesting last week have been identified by Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officials as:
Angela N. Cooper, 29, Johnathan E. Cooper 32, Charles L. Fasbenner, 44, Lorne H. Hicks Jr, 22 and Kevin M. Schoelles, 29. All reside in Apalachicola, except for Hicks who lives in Wewahitchka.
The Coopers and Fasbenner were cited for posession of untagged oysters, harvest of oysters between sunset and sunrise, failure to deliver shellfish directly to a certified dealer and sale of unlawfully landed product.
Fasbenner was also cited for two boating infractions.
Schoelles was cited for failure to deliver shellfish directly to a certified dealer, possession of untagged, unculled oysters and harvesting oysters in conditionally approved area during closure.
All citations are second degree misdemeanors punishable by $500 fines and up to 60 days in county jail.
From a Monday Facebook post from Oyster Radio
Oyster Radio
Yesterday
FWC arrested 2 men last week for harvesting oysters at night off the summer bars.
The officers were working off a tip they received about night oystering.
While on patrol in Apalachicola, the officers noticed a utility vehicle near the water’s edge loaded with 22 bags of oysters.
They also noticed two individuals hiding in the bushes next to the vehicle.
An inspection of the vehicle and vessel at the location revealed a total of nearly 3000 pounds of oysters.
The bags of oysters were untagged and unculled.
Also, both individuals admitted to harvesting the oysters from conditionally approved summer bars and that they had caught most of the oysters late in the afternoon and then brought the bags into Two Mile Channel, concealing them in an area behind a locked gate until they could bring them to their vehicle.
The two men were cited for untagged oysters, harvesting between sunset and sunrise, and failure to deliver shellfish directly to a certified dealer.
The oysters were returned to the bay.
Where have all the oysters gone?
Moderators: bman, Chalk, Tom Keels
Re: Where have all the oysters gone?
FWC officers nab 2 tons of illegal oysters
Undersized oysters seized, returned to Apalachicola Bay
Jan. 18, 2014
Written by
Karl Etters
Democrat staff writer
FILED UNDER
News
Local
Law enforcement officials seized 4,000 pounds of illegally harvested oysters earlier this week in Apalachicola and stopped the haul from heading to seafood markets.
The oysters were harvested from bars closed until summer and are an example of the recent wave of abuse on a resource that state agencies, oystermen and the Gulf community have been scrambling to bring back to healthy levels.
Shannon Hartsfield, president of the Franklin County Seafood Worker’s Association, said while he’s heard of illegal harvesting, the news of Monday’s bust is far-reaching.
“What some of these guys are doing, I don’t condone it,” Hartsfield said. “It’s hurting their future and it’s not good for the bay or the consumer.”
In two cases, Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission officers in Carrabelle issued citations to five individuals for 20 misdemeanors and two boating infractions. The oysters were returned to the water to continue to grow.
In one case, two individuals were stopped Monday around 1 a.m. Officers discovered a vehicle and a boat laden with 27 burlap sacks — around 3,000 pounds — of oysters at a boat ramp.
According to the incident report, the suspects said they had harvested the oysters in the afternoon and stashed them behind a locked gate to retrieve later. The burlap sacks were untagged and unculled, meaning clusters of shells that should be broken apart from other shells to prevent undersized oysters from making it into the catch were not.
By law, oysters can be harvested from sunrise until 2 p.m. when the catch has to be delivered to a shell house. The commercial limit is 20 bags of oysters, averaging between 60 and 100 pounds each.
The second case occurred an hour and a half later at the same secluded boat ramp when officers heard a boat without navigation lights returning to shore. During a vessel stop, three individuals on board admitted to harvesting from the summer bars and beginning to harvest after dark. Officers found nine untagged bags of oysters totaling close to 1,000 pounds.
(Page 2 of 2)
Hartsfield said even though oystermen depend on the resource to make a living, an unculled bag can contain undersized oysters, spat oysters and substrate. Removal of these oysters and material is detrimental to producing more legal, 3-inch oysters in the future.
Re-shelling programs have been conducted by the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, FWC, oystermen and researchers, all looking to find what density, material and locations efficiently grow oysters.
Poaching in combination with low freshwater flow and other factors has put Apalachicola Bay’s oyster population into crisis.
“That’s devastating to the bay,” Hartsfield said.
Capt. Rob Beaton with the FWC’s Carrabelle field office said catch enforcement on Apalachicola Bay has increased as well as a push toward steeper penalties for offenders who blatantly flout the law.
Beaton said Monday’s bust came as a result of a Franklin County shell house report about 13 bags of oysters coming in from a day of harvest. That’s unusual in recent years.
“We all know that even the most honest, hardest-working oystermen right now, if he went out at sunrise and worked, the most he could get is probably three bags and that’s working non-stop all day,” Beaton said.
There have been other instances of illegal harvests.
In a Jan. 9 weekly FWC law enforcement report, three individuals were cited on St. George Island during the first week of January when FWC officers found them with six bags of unculled, spat and bedding shell-laden, oysters more than 94 percent undersized.
Beaton said the St. George Island case and the Monday cases were related.
“The shame of it is that more and more of that is happening and it’s giving a bad name to Apalachicola,” Hartsfield said.
Brand recognition based on the origin of an oyster is important to consumer confidence. If undersized Apalachicola oysters make it to raw bars across the country, the brand could be damaged.
Chris Nelson, vice president of Alabama-based Bon Secour Fisheries Inc., said violating harvest regulations during poor growing conditions exacerbates the problem.
“We have to be committed to work within the rules of the game,” said Nelson, who also holds a degree in marine environmental sciences. “One of the rules is the size limit.”
Apalachicola oysters maintain strong name recognition, despite a decline in harvest.
“A lot of people will tell you it’s their favorite because it’s consistently salty,” Nelson said. “Apalachicola Bay and the people around the bay have done a better job than any other region along the Gulf Coast of getting people to recognize what is unique about the product.”
Hartsfield said shelling programs have promise, as does recent increased rainfall totals throughout the region, but it provides little immediate relief for oystermen who often are unfazed by sanctions and continue to struggle to make a living by any means necessary.
“It’s a no-win situation for the oystermen,” he said. “Families are hurting, but on the same hand, what are they to do?”
Undersized oysters seized, returned to Apalachicola Bay
Jan. 18, 2014
Written by
Karl Etters
Democrat staff writer
FILED UNDER
News
Local
Law enforcement officials seized 4,000 pounds of illegally harvested oysters earlier this week in Apalachicola and stopped the haul from heading to seafood markets.
The oysters were harvested from bars closed until summer and are an example of the recent wave of abuse on a resource that state agencies, oystermen and the Gulf community have been scrambling to bring back to healthy levels.
Shannon Hartsfield, president of the Franklin County Seafood Worker’s Association, said while he’s heard of illegal harvesting, the news of Monday’s bust is far-reaching.
“What some of these guys are doing, I don’t condone it,” Hartsfield said. “It’s hurting their future and it’s not good for the bay or the consumer.”
In two cases, Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission officers in Carrabelle issued citations to five individuals for 20 misdemeanors and two boating infractions. The oysters were returned to the water to continue to grow.
In one case, two individuals were stopped Monday around 1 a.m. Officers discovered a vehicle and a boat laden with 27 burlap sacks — around 3,000 pounds — of oysters at a boat ramp.
According to the incident report, the suspects said they had harvested the oysters in the afternoon and stashed them behind a locked gate to retrieve later. The burlap sacks were untagged and unculled, meaning clusters of shells that should be broken apart from other shells to prevent undersized oysters from making it into the catch were not.
By law, oysters can be harvested from sunrise until 2 p.m. when the catch has to be delivered to a shell house. The commercial limit is 20 bags of oysters, averaging between 60 and 100 pounds each.
The second case occurred an hour and a half later at the same secluded boat ramp when officers heard a boat without navigation lights returning to shore. During a vessel stop, three individuals on board admitted to harvesting from the summer bars and beginning to harvest after dark. Officers found nine untagged bags of oysters totaling close to 1,000 pounds.
(Page 2 of 2)
Hartsfield said even though oystermen depend on the resource to make a living, an unculled bag can contain undersized oysters, spat oysters and substrate. Removal of these oysters and material is detrimental to producing more legal, 3-inch oysters in the future.
Re-shelling programs have been conducted by the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, FWC, oystermen and researchers, all looking to find what density, material and locations efficiently grow oysters.
Poaching in combination with low freshwater flow and other factors has put Apalachicola Bay’s oyster population into crisis.
“That’s devastating to the bay,” Hartsfield said.
Capt. Rob Beaton with the FWC’s Carrabelle field office said catch enforcement on Apalachicola Bay has increased as well as a push toward steeper penalties for offenders who blatantly flout the law.
Beaton said Monday’s bust came as a result of a Franklin County shell house report about 13 bags of oysters coming in from a day of harvest. That’s unusual in recent years.
“We all know that even the most honest, hardest-working oystermen right now, if he went out at sunrise and worked, the most he could get is probably three bags and that’s working non-stop all day,” Beaton said.
There have been other instances of illegal harvests.
In a Jan. 9 weekly FWC law enforcement report, three individuals were cited on St. George Island during the first week of January when FWC officers found them with six bags of unculled, spat and bedding shell-laden, oysters more than 94 percent undersized.
Beaton said the St. George Island case and the Monday cases were related.
“The shame of it is that more and more of that is happening and it’s giving a bad name to Apalachicola,” Hartsfield said.
Brand recognition based on the origin of an oyster is important to consumer confidence. If undersized Apalachicola oysters make it to raw bars across the country, the brand could be damaged.
Chris Nelson, vice president of Alabama-based Bon Secour Fisheries Inc., said violating harvest regulations during poor growing conditions exacerbates the problem.
“We have to be committed to work within the rules of the game,” said Nelson, who also holds a degree in marine environmental sciences. “One of the rules is the size limit.”
Apalachicola oysters maintain strong name recognition, despite a decline in harvest.
“A lot of people will tell you it’s their favorite because it’s consistently salty,” Nelson said. “Apalachicola Bay and the people around the bay have done a better job than any other region along the Gulf Coast of getting people to recognize what is unique about the product.”
Hartsfield said shelling programs have promise, as does recent increased rainfall totals throughout the region, but it provides little immediate relief for oystermen who often are unfazed by sanctions and continue to struggle to make a living by any means necessary.
“It’s a no-win situation for the oystermen,” he said. “Families are hurting, but on the same hand, what are they to do?”
Re: Where have all the oysters gone?
Its Georgia's fault that the bay was over harvested during the BP non-event for the bay and that now folks are taking them illegally. I paid $20 for a fresh shucked pint in Panama City Saturday. Georgia has paid its debt! Carry on.
Its a wonderful day in the neighborhood!
Re: Where have all the oysters gone?
There is no doubt its bad... I understand folks trying to make a living and Oystering is a hard way. But harvesting in closed areas is short sighted.
I think some of the problem is still coming from the time of the Horizon oil spill.
Not from the spill itself but from over harvest. People thought everything was going to die and they took what they could.
Then we had the drought years that "burned" them.
I hope we see them come back!
I think some of the problem is still coming from the time of the Horizon oil spill.
Not from the spill itself but from over harvest. People thought everything was going to die and they took what they could.
Then we had the drought years that "burned" them.
I hope we see them come back!
Barry Bevis, Realtor and Owner of BigBendFishing.net
I liked it so much, I bought the company
http://www.bevisrealty.com
TEAM "Duck Season!"
I liked it so much, I bought the company
http://www.bevisrealty.com
TEAM "Duck Season!"
Re: Where have all the oysters gone?
Evidently there are some folks who need to read Dr. Seuss again.
Re: Where have all the oysters gone?
This was probably not their first time doing it either. So they have a chance to make $1000 a night gathering oysters. They get caught 1 out of 5 times and the fine is $500. Not much to deter them from trying again next week.
Re: Where have all the oysters gone?
We always try to say there is THE cause for something. It's human nature because if there is THE cause, we believe we can fix it. More often than not this presumption is false and not supported by the data. For example, people thought the decline in the bee population was based on cell phones, insecticides, monoculture agriculture or the lack of wildflowers. Scientists are now coming to agreement that the decline is caused by all of the above and even more, not any one in isolation. Similarly, there is no doubt the Bay was grossly overfished during Deepwater Horizon. There is also no doubt that the salinity of the Bay has been affected by low water flows and that this lower salinity has affected the oyster population. And has caused a plummet of the population of Tupelo trees in the floodplain due to the low freshwater flow, which gets little attention. We, as a society, need to start making some hard choices about our resources if we truly care about those who will be here in the next generations. Or we can party like it's 1999 and forget about the grandkids.
Re: Where have all the oysters gone?
I guess we can blame God, he allowed the Southeast to be in a record drought which reduced the water flow. He allowed people to populate and form cities. He allowed men to think and use water to grow crops to feed his masses. Yep, I think you can blame Him. Personally, I am thankful for all the many blessings, including the resiliency of nature to bound back.
Its a wonderful day in the neighborhood!
Re: Where have all the oysters gone?
Nature will not bounce back if we continue to abuse it. That's a fact.
Re: Where have all the oysters gone?
I wonder if I was a repeat violator and showed up at the boat ramp after dark with no lights on with 4000 pounds of mostly undersized trout would they give me a $500 fine?
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Re: Where have all the oysters gone?
........Yes $ 500.00 and then someRhettley wrote:I wonder if I was a repeat violator and showed up at the boat ramp after dark with no lights on with 4000 pounds of mostly undersized trout would they give me a $500 fine?
Re: Where have all the oysters gone?
Well it is actually $500 per citation, the OP cited six citations per person, which if given the max would be $3000 each. They should be given the max, and I do believe the $500 max should be raised, or change it from second degrees misdemeanor to something stronger.
Re: Where have all the oysters gone?
Thanks for clarifying that. I missed it. It looks like only the two with boating citations will get 6 citations actually. The others will only receive 4 and if charged $500 each that's $2000. That's pretty much the cost of doing business for these type or repeat offenders and evidently isn't slowing them down. I hate to see the day we reminisce about the good old Apalachicola Oysters we grew up eating by the dozens.leonreno wrote:Well it is actually $500 per citation, the OP cited six citations per person, which if given the max would be $3000 each. They should be given the max, and I do believe the $500 max should be raised, or change it from second degrees misdemeanor to something stronger.
Re: Where have all the oysters gone?
Nature has shown amazing resiliency. Those oyster beds, if properly managed, should come back just fine. When I was down there last week, folks were fussing about too much water. Me thinks folks like to fuss.Gumbo wrote:Nature will not bounce back if we continue to abuse it. That's a fact.
Its a wonderful day in the neighborhood!
Re: Where have all the oysters gone?
What a relief. Now I can start dumping my used oil down storm drains again. Vegas can keep sucking the rivers dry. No more money needed for Everglades restoration. The City of Tallahassee can stop spending that $230 million on wastewater improvements and Wakulla Springs will be fine. It's just people fussing and nature will take care of it. Yay!!!!!