Mr. Stewart from Tallahasse is correct, the oyster population for the entire Gulf Coast from LA to FL have been affected by the storms and the pollution. Katrina pushed Red Tide in from South FL when she hit and it is still lingering in the Apalachicola, FL area. Katrina also did a lot of damage as well as Dennis. Oysters are coming from Texas but they are double in price, you can't get local oysters which I might add is all I will eat. This delicacy may just be a memory if we don't clean up our act.

We have just about lost our oyster industry in the panhandle of Florida as well. Tampa's industry died generations ago. The real threat is from pollution. Local govts as far north as the Tennessee border dump sewage in rivers that drain into Florida bays. Septic systems, many not maintained correctly, seep sewage. Factories and businesses everywhere dump their discharge in rivers. Farms and golf courses are very very bad for a watershed. All this pollution coming downstream end up in the estuaries and bays where the oysters live. The industry was hurting way before the storms destroyed the oyster beds. We feel very sorry for watermen and their families most of all.