Florida accepting public feedback on Big Bend oyster management
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) is seeking public comments on how it should manage oyster harvesting in the Big Bend region of the state. Once a successful commercial fishery, the Big Bend lost roughly 66 percent of its oyster reefs between 1982 and 2011. The region also faced additional pre…
“The workshop will allow the public to ask questions about the Big Bend oyster resource and potential management changes,”
Landings have markedly went down since, with the total bags offloaded not surpassing 10,000 bags in either of the last two years. There were only 32 commercial harvesters in 2025.
Despite the dropping population and landings, Big Bend wild oyster harvesting regulations have not been updated since 1991, according to the FWC. “Given the declines, the current regulations no longer reflect the state of the oyster resource,” FWC staff said in a 5 August presentation. Continuing oyster restoration in Big Bend and enabling a crop is a major focus for FWC now that the Apalachicola Bay oyster commercial fishery has been reopened. The state is investing USD 40 million (EUR 34 million) in oyster restoration for the Big Bend region across five projects.
At the same time, FWC is working with stakeholders to update regulations for the fishery.
- Who: Big Bend · Apalachicola Bay · Wildlife Conservation Commission
- Percentages: 66 percent
- Figures: 66 percent · 40 million · 34 million