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Oysters

Suniland Magazine

1925

The production of oysters is another growing industry in Florida. The principal natural oyster reefs are found at Fernandina, the mouth of the Indian River, Mosquito Inlet, Hillsboro Bay, Sarasota Bay, Charlotte Harbor, CedarKeys, St. Marks Bay, Apalachicola Bay, St. Andrew's Bay, and Escambia Bay, by large the most prolific of these beds being found in the Gulf, the salinity of the Atlantic waters not being so favorable to oyster growth. About eighty-five per cent of Florida's oysters are produced in Northwest Florida, chiefly in Franklin -County, of which Appalachicola, the center of the industry, is the seat. Florida's Public reefs are now producing more 100,000 barrels of oysters a year, oysters being either shipped in a raw state or canned.

No state is doing more to conserve its natural oyster beds than Florida, whose Shell Fish Division of the Department of Agriculture has accomplished remarkable work in the past few years, it being estimated, indeed, that but for its work in oyster conservation 90 per cent of its now prolific reefs would be barren. This organization maintains its own planting equipment, and in a single year has placed 25,000 bushels of seed oysters on the public beds. The Shell Fish Division is also doing yeoman service in conserving the salt water fisheries through the enforcement of the state's protective regulations and in general fish propagation.

Source:
Excerpt from: Agassiz, Garnault. "Florida in Tomorrow's Sun."
Suniland, Nov. 1925, Vol.3, No.2., Pgs. 37-45; 88-94; 113-133

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