Future of Florida Seafood in Jeopardy
Lawmakers Asked to Act
Posted August 13, 2013 07:45 am
Oystermen tonging on Apalachicola Bay.
Richard Bickel
APALACHICOLA,
FL – The source of much of Florida's seafood is being
"decimated" by a decades-long tug of war over water
rights involving Georgia, Alabama and Florida, according
to the state's seafood industry and conservation groups.
Today, representatives of both will rally at the
Franklin County Court House to ask federal lawmakers to
settle the competing needs for the water that feeds the
Apalachicola River and Bay.
According to Preston Robertson, vice president and general counsel for the Florida Wildlife Federation, the issue must be resolved now.
"We're in a bad way," he stated. "We need some
direction, and we especially need some leadership to
figure out how to get adequate amounts of water at the
right time, down the river, from the dam."
Today, members of the U.S. Senate are meeting in
Apalachicola to hold a field hearing on the effect of
water flow on the river and bay. Robertson said most of
the water that would naturally feed the region is used
up by Atlanta for drinking water before it can flow
downstream.
Ninety percent of the oyster harvest in Florida and 13
percent of the nation's oysters come from the region.
According to Dan Tonsmeire, the
Apalachicola Riverkeeper, the seafood industry is
suffering after 30 years of inconsistent and depleted
river flows.
"The oysters are decimated," he declared. "All of the
commercially-harvested species in the bay have been
impacted. It is not a sustainable fishery."
For the last three decades Alabama, Georgia and Florida
have been charged with negotiating fair usage of the
water, but Tonsmeire said they've been unsuccessful.
"So far, the states have not been able to work it out,
after all these years," he said. "We believe that
Congress has got to take some action to level the
playing field, give Florida its water rights back."
Earlier this year a provision was added to the federal
Water Resources Development Act that would ensure
Florida and Alabama more water, but that was deleted
before the bill passed. Florida's Senators Marco Rubio
and Bill Nelson are hoping today's hearing might help
gain momentum in Congress for such a provision.
Photos and links added by the Observer
Oysterman tonging: © Richard Bickel
Photography
Shrimp Boats: CEVR/Wendy Jackson
