Home » Oyster Culture Workshops » Applicant Workshops for Oyster Culture Leases in Franklin County
These pre-application workshops were held in Apalachicola to provide information about the application process and to inform those interested in applying about pertinent rules, oyster farming gear and management, and financial considerations in setting up an off-bottom oyster farm.
Topics and guest speakers included:
The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) has been granted authorization to establish the Four Mile Aquaculture Use Zone in Apalachicola Bay and to execute 38 submerged land leases for use of the full water column. FDACS will accept lease applications from March 6 through March 20, 2020. Download the following support documentation.
Presentations are available as printable PDFs and videos below.
*Please note, some details in this video are specific to an Apalachicola lease area and don’t apply to new leases in other areas.
Lease and Aquaculture Certification of Registration Application Process
Aquaculture Lease Management Rules
Shellfish Harvesting and Processing
Current State of Florida’s Oyster Aquaculture Industry
The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) has been granted authorization to establish the Four Mile Aquaculture Use Zone in Apalachicola Bay and to execute 38 submerged land leases for use of the full water column. FDACS will accept lease applications from March 6 through March 20, 2020. Download the following support documentation.
Pre-application workshops were held on March 4th and 5th in Apalachicola to provide information about the application process and to inform those interested in applying about pertinent rules, oyster farming gear and management, and financial considerations in setting up an off-bottom oyster farm. Following are the presentations given at these workshops.
– Lease and Aquaculture Certification of Registration Application Process
Portia Sapp, FDACS Division of Aquaculture
– Aquaculture Lease Management Rules
Charlie Culpepper, FDACS Division of Aquaculture
– Shellfish Harvesting and Processing
Kim Norgren, FDACS Division of Aquaculture
– Current State of Florida’s Oyster Aquaculture Industry
Leslie Sturmer, University of Florida/IFAS, Shellfish Aquaculture Extension
– Oyster Farm Gear and Management
Bill Walton, Auburn University Shellfish Lab
– Oyster Aquaculture Financial Considerations
Andrew Ropicki, University of Florida/IFAS, Food and Resource Economics
Presentations can be accessed here (PDF file).
For more information about the leasing process, contact Charlie Culpepper, Assistant Division Director, at 850-617-7600 (phone) or Charlie.Culpepper@fdacs.gov (email). Also check out their website, https://www.fdacs.gov/Agriculture-Industry/Aquaculture/Aquaculture-Submerged-Land-Leasing.
For more information about off-bottom oyster aquaculture in Florida, click on Oyster at this website’s home page, or https://shellfish.ifas.ufl.edu/oyster-culture-overview/.
