Starting Wednesday, there will be no swimming, boating, fishing, or scalloping in certain areas of St. Joseph Bay. Listen to the story!
After the Deepwater Horizon Oil spill in 2010, Florida wildlife officials have been working to restore the scallops in St. Joseph Bay.
But, there have been some setbacks.
In addition to a red tide event in 2015, researchers say the bay suffered a “scallop recruitment failure.”
That means a huge die off of small bay scallops occurred, after they did not settle in St. Joseph Bay.
So, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission buoys will mark the area as off limits for swimming, boating, fishing, or scalloping. It starts Wednesday and lasts until the end of the year.
Meanwhile, the bay scallop season in Gulf county will be open to harvesters August 17th through September 30th.
For more news updates, follow Sascha Cordner on Twitter: @SaschaCordner.
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