Florida’s Bay County Oyster Bag Limit Lowered for October
The commercial bag limit for oysters in Bay County will be lowered to 10 60-pound bags per person or vessel, whichever is less, starting Oct. 1. This change will be in effect for the month of October only and is being made through an executive order by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Before the change, the bag limit was 20 bags per person or vessel. This change does not apply to active oyster leases.
This change was requested by the Bay County Commission and Bay County oyster harvesters to better sustain commercial oyster harvesting opportunities in the waters of Bay County.
The executive order effecting this change can be seen at MyFWC.com/About; click on “Inside FWC,” “Executive Director” and “Executive Orders.”
The Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission came into existence on July 1, 1999 - the result of a constitutional amendment approved in the 1998 General Election as part of the package proposed by the Constitution Revision Commission.
In the implementation of the Constitutional Amendment, the Florida Legislature combined all of the staff and Commissioners of the former Marine Fisheries Commission, elements of the Divisions of Marine Resources and Law Enforcement of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, and all of the employees and Commissioners of the former Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission.
Five years later, after consulting stakeholders, employees and other interested parties, the FWC adopted a new internal structure to address complex conservation issues of the new century. The new structure focuses on programs, such as habitat management, that affect numerous species. It will focus on moving the decision-making process closer to the public and did not require any additional funding or additional positions.
