TPW Commission Steps Up To Conserve Oysters

You may have noticed numerous articles recently discussing oysters in this magazine. If you haven’t, it is also likely you are not well informed of the important contributions oyster reefs make toward the health and productivity of Texas bays.

Oysters feed by straining nutrients from the water they live in. An adult oyster can filter 50 gallons of water each day; critical to the maintenance of water clarity, which helps seagrasses thrive, among other benefits.

Oysters provide habitat for larval and juvenile finfish, and a host of other recreationally and commercially important species – speckled trout, red drum, shrimp and crabs.

Oyster reefs hold bottom sediments in place by redirecting storm and tidal currents. Reefs also help prevent shoreline erosion.

So, while everybody is aware that oysters are an exceptional seafood delicacy, and who doesn’t enjoy them fried or on the half-shell, it also important to recognize that the supply is not endless.

Oysters once thrived in many places along the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts, but no so much anymore. Too many factors to discuss here but the chief reasons for the demise of those fisheries boils down to two – loss of habitat and excessive harvest.

Oysters, you see, are unique in that they make their own habitat, habitat that is also highly beneficial to a host of other species, not to mention all the other ecological services they contribute. As the fisheries on other coasts declined, and the demand for oysters continued to grow, Texas oysters became increasingly popular, and not just in Texas.

The Galveston Bay System historically provided more oysters than all Texas bays combined. But then came Hurricane Ike – 80% of Galveston’s reefs were buried in silt, and the reefs died. But the demand remained high.

So, the commercial harvesters moved south, to Matagorda, San Antonio, and the Aransas bays. But, it didn’t take long until these reefs were worked beyond a sustainable level. And that’s what all the articles we’ve been publishing were about.

Last year’s six month oyster season was curtailed after only a couple months in most bays due to lack of abundance, and only a few areas within Texas bays met TPWD’s abundance criteria for re-opening this year.

On November 3, 2022, after much study and consultation with leading marine scientists and the oyster industry, the TPW Commission took a bold step toward conserving Texas oysters by approving the permanent closure of oyster harvest in the Ayres-Mesquite-Carlos region of the Aransas Bay System.

While a bitter pill for the oyster industry and a disappointment to oyster lovers, it comes down to this – We either conserve what we still have or risk losing it forever.

Kudos to the Commission!