Featured News Archives - Florida Shellfish Aquaculture Online Resource Guide

Is the Pilot Crop Insurance Program for FL oyster growers worth it?

November 21, 2025

The USDA Risk Management Agency (RMA) is currently running a pilot insurance program for oyster growers. The shellfish pilot crop insurance program, in its third year, offers ‘actual production history-price component’ (APH-PC) insurance for container-grown oysters commercially cultivated for the half-shell market. Additionally, the program allows farmers in eligible counties who purchase the APH-PC insurance to purchase ‘event-driven’ Hurricane Insurance Protection-Wind Index (HIP-WI) protection as an add-on policy. Oyster growers must decide whether to invest in insurance for their crops as well as pay an additional premium to purchase HIP-WI protection. Dr. Andrew Ropicki, a marine economist with Florida Sea

Sign-up for oyster crop insurance by November 30

November 14, 2025

The Shellfish Pilot Crop Insurance Program available through the USDA Risk Management Agency (RMA) is in its third year and is available to all Florida counties where commercial oyster aquaculture occurs. Shellfish seed purchased at an uninsurable size and reared in a grower’s nursery system to an insurable size is covered. The pilot program, which is an actual production history-price component coverage policy, provides protection against losses due to named storms, excessive heat during a low tide event, freeze during a low tide event, or low salinity due to excessive rainfall. In addition to the underlying policy, oyster growers can

Sign-up for USDA NRCS’s EQIP by October 3

September 22, 2025

The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in Florida has begun accepting applications for the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP). Last year, disaster assistance funding introduced growers impacted by the 2024 hurricane season to EQIP Conservation Practice 400 – Bivalve Aquaculture Gear and Biofouling Control – the first practice made available for shellfish growers in Florida! The program is now available for all Florida shellfish growers. The deadline to apply for this practice is October 3, 2025. EQIP Conservation Practice 400, a voluntary practice, involves cycling new or clean gear with production gear in waters where biofouling of gear occurs. The fouled gear