Drought A Drain To Oyster Trade

The oystermen of Apalachicola, Fla., harvest their catch using many of the same primitive methods that have been used for over a century. Now the severe drought in the Southeast threatens their livelihood.

John Richards, president of the Franklin County (Fla.) Seafood Workers Association, rakes for oysters on Apalachicola Bay, as he has done most mornings for the last 55 years. Oysters are a $134 million industry here, but the salty, spineless delicacy is dying off.

The state of Florida wants to keep water flowing down a river that originates at Lake Lanier in Georgia so oysters can thrive and thus protect the jobs of thousands of people who are employed by Apalachicola's oyster industry, the backbone of the local economy. The man-made lake supplies water to Atlanta.

A box of oysters harvested from the Apalachicola Bay sits on a dock at Water Street Seafood in Apalachicola, Fla. For decades Lake Lanier quenched Atlanta's thirst, kept the rivers flowing and flushed Apalachicola Bay with the fresh water oysters need to survive. But with the southeast drying up and the lake's water level a record 18 feet below normal, Georgia wants to turn off the spigot.

Alex Williams, the assistant manager at Water Street Seafood in Apalachicola, Fla., offers up an oyster on the half-shell.

D.J. Driver, an employee at Water Street Seafood in Apalachicola, Fla., gets boxes of oysters ready for shipping.