Apalachicola Seafood Dealers Call For Plan To Protect Bay, Seafood Industry

Franklin County seafood dealers are urging the state to develop a comprehensive plan for managing and restoring Apalachicola Bay while some environmentalists are knocking Florida for not "toeing the line" on agricultural water use.

Florida on Oct. 1 filed a lawsuit against Georgia in the U.S. Supreme Court over water from the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River system. The direct action followed a 2012 collapse of the Apalachicola Bay oyster population, which Florida officials blame on lack of fresh water flowing from Georgia.

Franklin County seafood dealers and a former state aquaculture official told the Senate Committee on Agriculture on Monday that state must begin working on a comprehensive plan to address issues including oyster harvesting, habitat, law enforcement and aquaculture.

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