The first commercial oyster season in Florida’s Apalachicola Bay since it was closed in 2020 resulted in a harvest of 4,233 bags of shellfish, roughly 90 percent of the commercial limit set by state regulators.
While Apalachicola Bay was historically a major producer of oysters, at one time providing roughly 10 percent of the oysters in the United States, the population collapsed in 2013. Regulators ultimately closed the fishery in 2020, subsequently setting in place a five-year moratorium on oyster harvesting in the bay.
During that time, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission (FWC) entered into a USD 20 million (EUR 17.4 million) agreement to support oyster restoration and help the population recover.
Determining that the oysters had successfully recovered enough to support commercial harvesting, state regulators announced last year it would be reopening the bay for two months starting 1 January 2026.
In an 5 August update, FWC staff announced that commercial oyster harvesters took 4,233 bags of oysters from the bay, coming up just shy of the 4,726 bag limit set by state regulators. Of those, 4,140 bags were sold. Over 240 people applied to take part in the January season, though only 153 qualified. Each participant was given 31 bags to fill.
The FWC reported that law enforcement issued 89 warnings and 16 citations while enforcing oyster harvesting in the bay that season.
Now, the FWC is preparing for a second commercial season, running from 1 October 2026 through 28 February 2027.
Because not all reefs met the minimum requirements to be harvested, the upcoming season will be smaller than the first. The FWC has approved a commercial harvest limit of 2,433 bags, which will be split among the 126 participants who reapplied for the season.
