Purpose


The purpose of this rule development is to create a no-cost shellfish endorsement available to commercial harvesters of hard clams who complete the appropriate training course in sanitary shellfish harvest and post-harvest practices. New national guidelines were recently adopted by the Interstate Shellfish Sanitation Conference requiring food safety training relating to shellfish harvest and post-harvest practices. This training requirement must be tied to the issuance and renewal of a license in order to comply with the guidelines. Shellfish exports from states that are determined not to be in compliance may not be accepted by other states. In Florida, these requirements apply to the harvest of hard clams. Creating a no-cost shellfish endorsement on the saltwater products license and making it available to commercial harvesters of hard clams who have completed an approved training course within the last year would satisfy the guidelines and bring Florida’s commercial harvesters of wild shellfish into compliance with the national requirements. The effect of this rule will be to satisfy national requirements designed to ensure public health and safety, and to make certain that Florida’s shellfish industry continues to be able to export its products nationwide.