6 Oyster Rules That You Can Be Fined For in South Carolina
Oyster season is open in South Carolina, but you can only harvest on two days in any seven-day stretch.
It’s an easy rule to break on a long weekend, and it’s not the only one with a fine attached.
Here are the South Carolina oyster rules that can bring a fine.
Note: This is general information, not legal advice. Shellfish rules, seasons and penalties are subject to change, so confirm the current requirements with DNR.
1. Two-Bushel Limit
The daily limit on oysters is two bushels per person on public and state shellfish grounds.
A third bushel is a misdemeanor, with a fine of $25 to $200.
The law also allows up to 30 days in jail.
If you’re out with a crowd, state law still caps your boat or vehicle at three personal limits.
Separate Offenses and Seizure
Each extra bushel of oysters you take over the limit counts as a separate offense under the fishing law.
Oysters you take or keep in violation of the fishing law are contraband, and officers can seize them.
2. Two Harvest Days a Week
State law limits recreational oyster harvest to two calendar days in any seven-day period.
If you harvest on a Saturday and a Sunday, a Friday trip in those same seven days makes three.
That third day is a misdemeanor with the same fine of $25 to $200.
Count your trips.
3. Harvesting Out of Season
If you take oysters outside the season for personal use, you face a fine of $100 to $500.
The season that opened October 1 runs through May 15, 2027.
DNR can change the dates if conditions warrant.
State law lets DNR set each season anywhere between September 16 and May 15.
4. Closed Shellfish Grounds
Harvesting oysters from a closed shellfish ground can bring a fine of $200 to $1,000, or up to 30 days in jail.
The South Carolina Department of Environmental Services (DES) closes open areas under its closure procedures when the National Weather Service issues a hurricane warning for the area.
Rainfall of 4 inches in 24 hours triggers a closure too.
Conditionally approved areas can also close temporarily after moderate rain, with thresholds of 1.0 to 1.4 inches in 24 hours set area by area.
A pollution spill can close beds temporarily as well.
You can call DES at 1-800-285-1618 or check its interactive map for closure status.
Shellfish grounds may be closed to harvest after storm events or marine spills.
Most public and state shellfish grounds are marked with signs.
Public and state shellfish grounds should be posted with yellow warning signs.
Conditional areas aren’t always posted with white warning signs.
Don’t wait for a sign.
DNR’s Beaufort-area page lists the Parris Island ground as open only on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
5. Taking Shell From State Deposits
It is unlawful to remove shell from a state shell deposit unless the law allows it, and a violation carries a fine of $25 to $500.
Oyster shells are collected and reused to manage oyster grounds and create new oyster reef habitat.
DNR points people to an oyster shell recycling drop-off location, or you can call (843) 953-9841.
Shell dropped in any DNR receptacle becomes state property, and taking it is illegal.
Leave state shell where it is.
6. Mechanical Harvest Gear
You can’t use scoops, scrapes or dredges to gather oysters recreationally.
State law bars taking shellfish with mechanically operated devices without a mechanical harvest permit.
Breaking that rule brings a fine of $1,000 to $2,500, or up to 30 days in jail.
On conviction, the law requires a 12-month suspension of your saltwater privileges.
Polluted Areas
If you’re convicted a second time of harvesting oysters from a polluted area, the fine is $200 to $500 or 30 to 60 days in jail.
On a first offense, officers can impound your equipment.
The officer makes that call.
Licenses and Harvest Hours
You need a Saltwater Recreational Fishing License to harvest oysters recreationally.
Beds under a commercial shellfish culture permit are off limits unless the permit holder gives you written permission.
You have to carry that permission and your license.
DNR posts maps of the recreational grounds online, or you can call (843) 953-9854.
DNR bars harvesting from a half hour after official sunset until a half hour before official sunrise.
Sunset isn’t the cutoff.
Additional rules are in DNR’s Rules and Regulations, available where licenses are sold or online.
Unpaid Fines
If you don’t pay a fine for an oyster violation, you can lose your saltwater privileges.
Under the state fishing law, DNR suspends them if you haven’t paid within ten business days following adjudication.
The clock starts at adjudication.
The same happens if you default on a payment plan a magistrate approved.
That covers other DNR licenses, permits and registrations too.
The suspension lasts until the penalty is paid in full.
Psst! How much do you know about South Carolina’s coast and its shellfish? Take our quiz and see if you can ace it.
Quiz
Carolina Coast IQ
Answer these questions on South Carolina’s coast, oysters and state symbols. We bet you can’t get them all right. Prove us wrong?
Which of these is South Carolina’s official state shell?
Culling in Place
DNR encourages you to cull oysters in place.
That means breaking clusters apart where you harvest and leaving dead shell and small oysters on the shoreline.
Harvest only clusters or singles of larger oysters.
Oysters grow in clusters, and the weight of a thick cluster can push the bottom oysters into the mud.
An oyster feeds by filtering food particles from the surrounding water.
Oyster reefs grow on a firm foundation of dead shells.
Larvae that can't find a hard, clean surface sink to the bottom and die.
Reefs also help stabilize exposed marsh edges, which prevents bank erosion.
Small oysters left behind keep growing.
Shell you leave on the bank gives young oysters a hard surface to attach to.
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