Today, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) announced the recreational bay scallop harvest in the Pasco Zone will reopen on August 28 following a temporary closure. The Pasco Zone will reopen to bay scallop harvest from August 28 throughSeptember 24, 2024.
This area includes all state waters south of the Hernando-Pasco County line and north of the Anclote Key Lighthouse in northern Pinellas County, encompassing the Anclote River.
“We appreciate the community’s patience with the closure while we carefully monitored toxin levels in the Pasco Zone. Public safety is our top priority, and we wanted to ensure that levels dropped below the safety threshold before we considered reopening the season. We are excited to give back all the season days ahead of Labor Day weekend and encourage you and your family to enjoy Florida’s beautiful outdoors,” said Executive Director Roger Young.
The FWC continues to monitor scallop and water samples to keep Floridians safe. Continuous testing during the precautionary closure showed that both the algae (Pyrodinium bahamense) and the toxin it produces (saxitoxin) have returned to safe levels based on the safety thresholds established by the National Shellfish Sanitation Program. Out of an abundance of caution, after the reopening it is recommended that you only consume the scallop muscle and not the roe or whole scallop. For more information, see https://www.fda.gov/media/80235/download.