The old rule about months with an R in them is a folk memory of something real, and in Florida it is written into the regulations: most of the state is shut to oyster harvest through the summer.
The dates
Closed today by the rules below. The calendar shows when that changes.
Statewide, outside Apalachicola Bay
The summer closure is the season. Most of the state is shut from July 1 to September 30; Dixie, Levy and Wakulla close a month earlier and reopen a month earlier. Hand or tong only.
- Size
- 3 inches.
- Limit
- Two bags per person or per vessel per day, whichever is less.
Apalachicola Bay
Apalachicola was shut from 2020 and reopened for a two-month winter window under a lottery permit, with a limited number of Apalachicola Bay Recreational Opportunity permits issued to Florida residents. Treat it as an event to apply for, not a season to turn up for.
- Limit
- One harvest tag per permit holder, weekends only.
Read on 2026-09-14 from Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Legal dates were read on the agency’s own page on the date shown beside each entry. Seasons change: the agency link is always the last word.
Why Florida is different
Outside Apalachicola Bay, harvest is closed July 1 to September 30 across most of Florida, and June 1 to August 31 in Dixie, Levy and Wakulla counties — a month earlier in and a month earlier out. Apalachicola is a separate world: shut since 2020, it reopened for a two-month winter window from January 1 to February 28, 2026, weekends only, under a lottery permit with a limited number issued to Florida residents.
What to actually do
Three inches minimum, two bags per person or per vessel per day, hand or tong only. The closure that will actually make you ill is not the season but the health closure: the Department of Agriculture shuts shellfish harvest areas on water quality with little notice, and that check has to happen the morning you go, not the week before.
Where to fish it
We publish a daily report for 33 Florida waters, each with live flow or tide.
- Lake Okeechobee — Palm Beach County
- Pensacola — Escambia County
- Destin — Okaloosa County
- Tampa Bay — Pinellas County
- Jacksonville — Duval County
- Lake Tohopekaliga — Osceola County
- Lake Istokpoga — Highlands County
- Navarre — Santa Rosa County
An open season is not permission to fish: Florida requires a licence from age 16, from $17.00 for residents. What it costs and where to buy it →
Questions
When is oyster season in Florida?
Most of the state is open except July 1 to September 30. Dixie, Levy and Wakulla counties close June 1 to August 31 instead. Apalachicola Bay ran a separate lottery-permit season from January 1 to February 28, 2026, weekends only.
How many oysters can I harvest in Florida?
Two bags per person or per vessel per day, whichever is less, with a three-inch minimum, taken by hand or tong only.
Checked by Pablo Ruiz Quintero. Dates move: tell us if this one has and the correction goes in the verification log with the date.