Oyster Resource Development
In Florida, shell or "cultch" planting, as well as, oyster relaying and transplanting are important resource management tools for maintaining and enhancing productive oyster habitat. Depositing processed oyster shell on depleted oyster reefs and suitable bay bottom areas has been a positive management practice for many years. This practice provides resource managers within the Division of Aquaculture the opportunity to mitigate resource losses, to enhance productivity, and to contribute direct economic benefit to the oyster fishery. Reef construction and enhancement activities are located in Florida's historically productive estuaries, and particularly, Apalachicola Bay. This program relies heavily on shell contributions from local shellfish processing plants. The State has maintained an effective shell planting program since the early 1900's. From its beginnings, the Department has collected and planted more than 10 million bushels of shucked oyster shells. Since 1999, the section has maintained a shell planting level of 250,000 bushels of shucked shell every year. To ensure the continued productivity of public oyster reefs in Florida, the deposition of large amounts of cultch material provide an excellent base for the oyster larvae commonly called "Spat" to attach to.
Where processed shell is not available, oyster resource development projects have been largely dependent on alternative cultch materials, such as Calico Scallop shell, which has proven to be an excellent cultch material. Cultch material is barged from the Apalachicola stockpile and distributed to other bay systems throughout Florida. The Division of  Aquaculture's vessel the "Shellfish Mariner" and shell barge, along with her captain and crew have proven to be invaluable tools in oyster restoration projects throughout the State of Florida.
In Florida, significant acreage of productive oyster reefs are located in waters where harvesting for direct-to-market sale is prohibited to prevent public health problems associated with actual or potential pollution. Resource development projects called "relaying" take advantage of the oysters' ability to cleanse itself of contaminates (depurate) and offer a practical means to use a previously debilitated resource, making them safe for human consumption. Additionally, there are abundant stocks of juvenile oysters that grow on intertidal oyster bars. These intertidal oyster reefs are exposed at low tides and the oysters don't often grow to legal size. Oysters which are moved from the poor growing intertidal areas are able to recover and take advantage of less stressful growing conditions and grow to a legal and marketable quality size in a short time. When seed oysters are transplanted in the summer, harvesting may begin the following season and continue for several years as oysters grow to market size. Relaying and transplanting activities are often conducted as cooperative management programs between the Department and local oystermen's associations. Over the past twenty years, more than 4 million bushels of juvenile and adult oysters have been relayed and transplanted within six coastal counties. During much of this period, harvesting of oysters relocated during these projects was essential to sustain local fisheries. These projects provide substantial economic benefit to participants during the projects, as well as revenues when oysters were eventually harvested.
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