Last year in a successful, late-breaking effort to kill a state Dept of Agriculture bill that had focused on Long Island Sound leases, Connecticut oyster fishermen also nixed a section that would have allowed them to sell oysters less than 3 inches in length. That is an emerging market, which Rhode Island and Massachusetts are dominating.
Well, the Environment Committee is expected to approve the drafting of this, to become a committee bill. A hearing and a vote would occur before the committee’s March 27 deadline.
Here is the language:
“AN ACT AUTHORIZING THE TAKING OF CERTAIN OYSTERS THAT ARE TWO AND ONE-HALF INCHES IN LENGTH.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:
That the general statutes be amended to authorize the harvesting of oysters that are two and one-half inches in length, provided such oysters are raised and cultivated in a confined apparatus prior to such harvest.
Statement of Purpose:
To promote the growth of the shellfish industry in the state.”