Local groups are returning restaurant oyster shells to Florida’s Apalachicola Bay, where they give young oysters a hard surface to grow on. The bay reopened to limited harvesting this year; the next season is scheduled for Oct. 1 through Feb. 28, 2027.
Apalachicola Bay once supplied 90% of Florida’s oysters and about 10% of those sold nationally. Urbanization, hurricanes, drought and poor water quality contributed to a decline in reef area from 2,000 acres to fewer than 100. The U.S. commerce secretary declared the fishery collapsed in 2013; Florida closed the bay to harvesting in 2020. The Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s five-year closure was intended to help reefs recover from overharvesting. The state aims to restore 2,000 reef acres by 2032.
NOAA awarded $5 million in 2024 to shell-recycling efforts across Gulf states, including Florida. OysterCorps, a FloridaCorps program, collects shells from local restaurants, cures them at a staging area and returns them to the shoreline. For the upcoming season, one of four areas open last winter will remain closed because it did not meet the anticipated harvest threshold. Officials plan to distribute 2,560 collection bags, down from 4,726 used in January and February.
