The Resource

From the confluence of the Flint and Chattahoochee Rivers, the Apalachicola flows from the Georgia/Florida border over 107 miles through the high bluffs of Grand Ridge and Cody Scarp to the Gulf Coastal Lowlands before it reaches Apalachicola Bay. This relatively undeveloped basin plays a major role in supporting a billion dollar offshore seafood industry in the Gulf of Mexico and produces over 13% of the nation’s oyster production making up 90% of the oyster harvest in Florida. The Apalachicola River is the largest in Florida in terms of flow volume and is truly an American treasure. Apalachicola Bay has been recognized as an exceptionally valuable estuarine system, one of the most outstanding left in the United States, and as such, has received numerous protective designations (e.g. Outstanding Florida Water, Florida Aquatic Preserve, National Estuarine Research Reserve, and UNESCO Man in the Biosphere Reserve).