62-331.244. General Permit for Commercial Shellfish Aquaculture Activities

(1) This general permit authorizes the following activities:

(a) Dredging or filling in state-assumed waters for new and continuing commercial shellfish aquaculture operations in authorized project areas. For the purposes of this general permit, the project area is the area in which the operator is authorized to conduct commercial shellfish aquaculture activities, as identified through a lease or permit issued by an appropriate state or local government agency, a treaty, or any easement, lease, deed, contract, or other legally binding agreement that establishes an enforceable property interest for the operator. A “new commercial shellfish aquaculture operation” is an operation in a project area where commercial shellfish aquaculture activities have not been conducted during the past 100 years.

(b) The installation of buoys, floats, racks, trays, nets, lines, tubes, containers, and other structures into state-assumed waters.

(c) Dredging or filling in state-assumed waters necessary for shellfish seeding, rearing, cultivating, transplanting, and harvesting activities. Rafts and other floating structures must be securely anchored and clearly marked.

(2) This general permit does not authorize:

(a) The cultivation of a nonindigenous species unless that species has been previously cultivated in the waterbody;

(b) The cultivation of an aquatic nuisance species as defined in the Aquatic Nuisance Prevention and Control Act, 16 U.S.C. §§4701 – 4751 (2018), incorporated by reference herein (https://flrules.org/Gateway/reference.asp?No=Ref-12048);

(c) Attendant features such as docks, piers, boat ramps, stockpiles, or staging areas, or the deposition of shell material back into state-assumed waters as waste;

(d) Activities that directly affect more than 1⁄2-acre of submerged aquatic vegetation beds in project areas that have not been used for commercial shellfish aquaculture activities during the past 100 years;

(e) Placement of materials for Live Rock culture; or

(f) Harvesting of Live Rock.

(3) This general permit is subject to the condition that in order to prevent introduction of aquatic nuisance species, no material that has been taken from a different waterbody may be reused in the current project area, unless it has been treated in accordance with the applicable regional nuisance species management plan.

(4) The permittee must submit a notice of intent to use this general permit to the Agency if:

(a) The activity will include a species that has never been cultivated in the waterbody;

(b) The activity occurs in a project area that has not been used for commercial shellfish aquaculture activities during the past 100 years;

(5) If a notice of intent is required, the permittee must include the following with the notification:

(a) A map showing the boundaries of the project area(s), with latitude and longitude coordinates for each corner of each project area;

(b) The name(s) of the species that will be cultivated during the period this general permit is in effect;

(c) Whether canopy predator nets will be used;

(d) Whether suspended cultivation techniques will be used;

(e) General water depths in the project area(s) (a detailed survey is not required); and

(f) A description of all species and culture activities the operator expects to undertake in the project area or group of contiguous project areas during the effective period of this general permit.

(6) If an operator intends to undertake unanticipated changes to the commercial shellfish aquaculture operation during the effective period of this general permit, and those changes require authorization under this chapter, the operator must contact the Agency to request a modification of the general permit verification; a new notice of intent does not need to be submitted.

(7) No more than one notice of intent per project area or group of contiguous project areas shall be submitted for the commercial shellfish operation during the effective period of this general permit.

Editor notes: The effective date of the rule will be the effective date of assumption, which is the date identified by EPA as published in the Federal Register §373.4146, F.S.

Rulemaking Authority 373.026(7), 373.043, 373.118(1), 373.4131, 373.414(9), 373.4145, 373.4146(2), 403.805(1) FS. Law Implemented 373.118, 373.129, 373.136, 373.413, 373.4131, 373.414, 373.4145, 373.4146, 373.416, 373.422, 373.423, 373.429 FS. History–New 12-22-20.