Tag Archives: oystermen

Florida to Supreme Court: Ga’s excessive water use killing bay’s oysters

In the early 1980s, Steve Rash would drive across the bridges that ring Florida’s Apalachicola Bay and see fishing vessels so crammed together on the water that a person could walk from boat to boat. There were hundreds of oystermen using traditional wooden hand tongs to harvest the estuary’s culinary jewel. Business was good. As recently as 2008, one in every 10 residents of Franklin County held an oyster license. Together, they harvested roughly 10% of the country’s wild oysters. But all of that came crashing down in 2013, when the oyster population collapsed and never recovered. >click to read< 12:23

Florida warns of Apalachicola River’s ‘doom’ if Georgia isn’t forced to release more water, Looks to US Supreme Court

Warning that a special master’s recommendation would “spell doom” for the Apalachicola River, Florida wants the U.S. Supreme Court to require Georgia to share more water in a river system that links the two states. “The harm to the Bay’s oyster fisheries is undeniable. Apalachicola is renowned across America for its oysters, which account for 90% of Florida’s oyster harvest and 10% of the nation’s,” “What’s more, oysters, and oystering, have created a distinct way of life in Apalachicola passed down from generation-to-generation; whole communities depend on the fisheries for their economic livelihood. The oyster is to Apalachicola what the lobster is to many New England towns.” >click to read< 10:23

Water War: Florida and Georgia battle over water, as panhandle oystermen struggle to survive

Michael Dasher lowered a long pair of tongs into the water,,, His 53-year-old calloused hands grasped not just the 12-foot-long (3.7-m-long) tool but a way of life that Florida panhandle oystermen say is dying: Last year, they hauled in 16,000 pounds (7,257 kg) of oysters worth $130,000, according to state figures, a fraction of the 2012 catch of 3 million pounds (1.4 million kg) worth $8.8 million. “It’s like dumping sacks of rocks every day, but I don’t know how to do anything else,” said Dasher, who fretted that his 32-year-old son nicknamed “Little Mike,” a fifth-generation oysterman in the family, may also be its last. Their future may be determined by the U.S. Supreme Court, >click to read< 13:08

BP Drops drop its bid to avoid paying 1 Billion Seafood Industry Spill Payments

0422_BILO_BP2After fighting for more than two years to avoid paying almost $1 billion in oil spill damages to Gulf Coast shrimpers, oystermen and seafood processors it claimed didn’t exist, BP Plc has thrown in the towel. A federal judge in New Orleans Monday allowed BP to drop its bid to avoid paying the second half of $2.3 billion in compensation promised to seafood interests harmed by the blown-out well. The subsea gusher pumped more than 4 million barrels of crude into the Gulf of Mexico in 2010, closing fisheries and blackening the shores of five states. BP had paid out about $1 billion of the seafood fund when it balked at paying the remainder after discovering irregularities in one law firm’s client list. The seafood payout is a separate earmark within BP’s Read the rest here 07:23

How BP turned a whole community into an endangered species

oysters_louisiana-by-shawn-escoffery-cropThe reason: the BP oil spill disaster of 2010, which dumped over 205 million gallons of oil and another 2 million gallons of possibly toxic dispersants into the Gulf, devastating the area that’s responsible for 40 percent of the seafood sold commercially across the U.S. grist.org  Read more here 10:57

U.S. Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL) writes letter concerning Fisheries Disaster funding

This past Friday, February 6, 2014, U.S. Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL) wrote a letter to Penny Pritzker, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Commerce strongly encouraging the secretary to move quickly in responding to the needs of oystermen in the Apalachicola Bay region. Click to read the letter  14:41

Gulf Oystermen are Struggling.

The recent heavy rains are to blame for the DMR closing the Pass Christian oyster reefs Tuesday afternoon. more@wlox,com

It’s 98 percent off this year. That’s the lowest I’ve ever seen it,” said George Barisich, president of the United Commercial Fisherman’s Association. Barisich believes seeing lingering effects of the BP oil disaster are impacting oyster landings. He said dispersed oil made it impossible for spat to catch on reefs, so few new oysters could grow. wwltv.com

Oystermen say crop in short supply ahead of Thanksgiving –  In just a few days, shoppers will head to stores to buy oysters to make dressing for Thanksgiving. But some local oystermen say they’re struggling to find enough crop and they only foresee the problem getting worse. more@fox8live  08:14

Apalachicola Bay-Franklin County Oysterman: “We’re going to lose everything we’ve ever worked for”

“I don’t know how families are going to survive,” said his wife and fellow oysterman, Betty Shiver. For the oystering couple, making a decent living these days seems down right impossible. They say the Apalachicola Bay, known for its big beautiful oysters, isn’t producing. The cause? Perhaps a lack of fresh water, over harvesting, or even possible remnants of the BP oil spill. They just don’t know, but their situation grows dire. “A lot of people, all they do is depend on this bay out here oystering and if it’s not here they can’t make it, and it’s not here and everybody knows it’s not here,” said Mr. Shiver. Read More

http://www.wmbb.com/story/19479895/franklin-county-oysterman-were-going-to-lose-everything-weve-ever-worked-for