With Apalachicola Bay set to open in just over two months, many wonder if it’s ready for a harvest. The FSU Coastal Marine Lab has been conducting research into it since 2019.
The bay closed in 2020 after years of decline following its collapse in 2013. The FSU Coastal and Marine Lab has been conducting the Apalachicola Bay System Initiative to learn more about the collapse and how to restore the bay Watch the video above to learn more about the bay and how it’s progressed in 5 years.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
The FSU Marine Lab says that the oyster populations in Apalachicola Bay are in a very vulnerable state, but if the plans by the FWC are maintained, some areas can be managed sustainably.
With the bay being closed to wild oyster harvesting for 5 years, making sure the bay is ready for the harvest is crucial.
“So the bay is responding to management and restoration, which is a good thing,” said Dr. Sandra Brooke, the lead scientist on the Apalachicola Bay System Initiative.
Researchers say that the bay is nowhere near where it was before its collapse in 2013; however, the bay has seen recovery since its closure in 2020.
Research shows that the decline in oyster populations was from a variety of things, from droughts, reduced freshwater flow, predation, and overharvesting.
“So what we saw in 2011 that there was a collapse of the juvenile population,” explained Dr. Brooke. “So in 2012, you didn’t get the big oysters for market. And then in 2013, the fishery collapsed.”
Working with the FWC, the FSU Marine Lab has been conducting research called the Apalachicola Bay System Initiative since 2019. This research, ABSI, is to learn more about the bay’s collapse and how to restore the bay.
Dr Brooke says the problem with restoration is that there are no solid reefs left in the bay. So they had to figure out how to rebuild those reefs, one of those was using rocks and concrete.
“So we started by building reefs that were 18 inches high, just over half a meter. So we thought we’d get that off the sea floor, and we used shell, which is the like the gold standard of reef restoration,” said Dr. Brooke. “We used the small rocks, the small lime rocks, that had been used in previous restorations, and we’re showing some signs of success.”
The FWC proposed a limited harvest in January during it’s August meeting. Four sites in the bay are set to open in January, each about 400 bags per acre.
When it closed in 2020, there were almost no market-sized oysters anywhere, and it could not sustain a harvest like that. The FWC voted unanimously for this as they wanted to bring it back for the local community.
“We want to be able to get as many boats back in the water as soon as possible, while supporting the bay’s continued recovery and sustainability,” said FWC Commissioner Preston Farrior in a press release on August 14th.
FSU will be continuing its research for the foreseeable future as funding allows for it. The bay is set to reopen on January 1st for a limited harvest to the end of February.
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