Florida Administrative Code › 5 - DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND CONSUMER SERVICES › 5L - Division of Aquaculture › Chapter 5L-1 - THE COMPREHENSIVE SHELLFISH CONTROL CODE › Section 5L-1.003 - Shellfish Harvesting Area Standards

Current through Reg. 50, No. 138; July 16, 2024
(1) The
				Department shall describe or illustrate harvesting areas and provide harvesting
				area classifications as approved, conditionally approved, restricted,
				conditionally restricted, prohibited, or unclassified as defined herein,
				including criteria for opening and closing shellfish harvesting areas in
				accordance with Chapters II and IV of the NSSP Model Ordinance. Copies of the
				Shellfish Harvesting Area Classification Boundaries and Management Plans,
				(FDACS-P-01593, Revised August 2022), containing shellfish harvesting area
				descriptions, references to shellfish harvesting area map numbers, and
				operating criteria are hereby incorporated by reference, and available online
				at
http://www.flrules.org/Gateway/reference.asp?No=Ref-15069
,
				or may be obtained by contacting the Division of Aquaculture, Holland Building,
				600 South Calhoun Street, Suite 217, Tallahassee, Florida 32399.
(2) Approved harvest areas - An area shall be
				classified as approved when a sanitary survey, conducted in accordance with
				Chapter IV of the NSSP Model Ordinance, indicates that pathogenic
				microorganisms, radionuclides, and/or harmful industrial wastes do not reach
				the area in dangerous concentrations and this is verified by laboratory
				findings whenever the sanitary survey indicates the need. Shellfish may be
				harvested from such areas for direct marketing. This classification is based on
				the following criteria:
(a) The area is not so
				contaminated with fecal material or poisonous or deleterious substances that
				consumption of the shellfish might be hazardous; and,
(b) The bacteriological quality of every
				sampling station in those portions of the area most probably exposed to fecal
				contamination shall meet one of the following standards during the most
				unfavorable meteorological, hydrographic, seasonal, and point source pollution
				conditions:
1) The median or geometric mean
				fecal coliform Most Probable Number (MPN) of water shall not exceed 14 per 100
				ml., and not more than 10% percent of the samples shall exceed a fecal coliform
				MPN of 43 per 100 ml. (per 5-tube, 3-dilution test) or
2) The median or geometric mean fecal
				coliform Most Probable Number (MPN) of water shall not exceed 14 per 100 ml.,
				and not more than 10% percent of the samples shall exceed a fecal coliform MPN
				of 33 per 100 ml. (per 12-tube, single-dilution test) or
3) The median or geometric mean fecal
				coliform Membrane Filter (MF) colony forming units of water shall not exceed 14
				per 100 ml., and not more than 10% percent of the samples shall exceed a fecal
				coliform MF colony forming unit of 31 per 100 ml. Harvest from temporarily
				closed approved areas shall be unlawful.
(c) Offshore state waters greater than three
				nautical miles from the shore are classified as approved if a sanitary survey,
				conducted within twelve years, shows there are no pollution sources that will
				impact the microbiological water quality.