The death of Pensacola's oyster industry is greatly exaggerated, but the risk is real

Santa Rosa County environmental activist Jerry Couey has a saying he likes to use when addressing a crowd of people."We have met the enemy, and it is us."As about 60 local stakeholders convened Tuesday to find solutions to halt the decline of the oyster harvesting profession in Pensacola Bay, his words rang true. At every turn in the discussion another manmade negative impact on the bay system took some blame for the current state of Northwest Florida's local water bodies.Get to know the PPBEP:Estuary program could be powerful guardian for Pensacola waters — with a bit more timeCutting back:New maps greatly reduce boundaries of Pensacola Bay system oyster harvestA meeting set up by the Pensacola and Perdido Bays Estuary Program on Tuesday called "Oyster Round Table: Solutions for Pensacola Bay" was set up following a state rule change implemented Jan.