More than 17,000 oysters were stolen from a lease owned by Pensacola Bay Oyster Co., and owner Donnie McMahon believes the community could be in danger if they are sold illegally.

"In Florida, this industry is very highly regulated," said McMahon, owner of the Pensacola-based company that sells oysters nationwide. "Everything has to be tagged, it should say what day it was harvested and have a sell-by date, the salinity of the water. It has to be traceable to the source."

The oysters need to be kept at certain temperatures and eaten within a specific time period to prevent consumers from getting sick, according to the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.

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McMahon is offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the people responsible for the theft of the approximately $10,000 worth of oysters from the lease in East Bay.

McMahon contacted the Santa Rosa County Sheriff's Office to investigate the case. Sgt. Rich Aloy, spokesman for the SRSO, said investigators with his office have turned the case over to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Because the theft happened in the water.

Bekah Nelson, a spokeswoman with FWC, confirmed the agency is working with local law enforcement to investigate the case. She encouraged anyone with information about the incident to contact FWC's Wildlife Alert Hotline at 888-404-FWCC (3922) or by texting Tip@MyFWC.com.

In a Facebook post, McMahon asked the public for help and received hundreds of replies from people expressing concern and offering their support.

He said he was overwhelmed by the community's reaction.

"I think people are just very sympathetic," he said.

McMahon said the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission found the emptied cages on the shoreline earlier this week. He believes the theft happened over the weekend.

Portia Sapp, director of the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services' Division of Aquaculture, said it won't be easy for anyone to resell the oysters.

"It is going to be really difficult for someone to sell that many oysters," said Sapp, who explained that the oysters would have to be taken to a certified shellfish processor and the processor would ask questions about the origin of the oysters.

"It is a very unusual crime," she said.

McMahon said the oyster theft amounted to a small portion of his overall crop, and he still has more than 850,000 oysters ready for harvest between his two farms.

McMahon's business took a big hit in 2017 when heavy rains damaged most of his crop by creating an imbalance in the salinity of the area Pensacola Bay where the oyster cages were kept at the time. They have rebounded since 2017, more than doubling the size of their crop and the company is asking for new oysters from the state this year.

Melissa Nelson Gabriel can be reached at mnelsongab@pnj.com or 850-426-1431.