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Try, Try Again

Shane Bonnot
Try, Try Again
We must protect what we still can to ensure healthy oyster habitat for future generations.

If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.

This age-old advice once again rings true as critical science-based conservation decisions have been hijacked by political maneuvers, orchestrated by those that stand to personally benefit from the continued and systematic destruction of public trust resources. Case in point – our Texas public oyster reefs.

You may recall that in March 2022, Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission (TPWC) considered the closure of Carlos, Mesquite and Ayres Bays, otherwise known as the Mesquite Bay Complex, to oyster harvest. The closure would protect ecologically sensitive and unique oyster habitat from the negative biological impacts of increased harvest pressure through the act of dredging reefs. To put it simply, per Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD), the ecological importance and sensitivity of these oyster reefs coupled with the historically high harvest pressure and highly variable oyster relative abundance makes this minor bay complex a candidate for permanent closure from harvest.

During the 2021-2022 public oyster fishing season, this area provided 30.4% of the coast-wide landings. Consider that for a moment. An area that represents approximately 2.8% of the oyster habitat in Texas provided over 30% of the landings, before the area was closed after only 2 months of harvest. This is out of balance and not sustainable.

However, despite this data, a letter was submitted at 9 p.m. on the eve of the March 24th meeting, requesting that TPWC delay any decision on a closure until TPWD “studies the benefits oyster harvesting has on cultivating healthy reefs, conducts and in-depth economic impact study, and develops a concrete plan to regularly sample any closed areas to ensure that closure works as a tool to significantly replenish oyster population(s)”. Yes, you read that correctly – “study the benefits that dredging has on cultivating healthy reefs.”

At that March meeting, public support to permanently close the Mesquite Bay Complex to oyster harvesting was overwhelming with 79% of comments favoring the closure. Additionally, 16 non-government organizations submitted individual letters backing the justification for the proposal and offered oyster fishery management recommendations for TPWC to consider moving forward. Furthermore, during public testimony, commissioners directly asked Dr. Jennifer Pollack, Endowed Chair for Coastal Conservation & Restoration at Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, if dredging the reefs is beneficial and helpful for the reefs. She replied, “I was very surprised to hear this comment coming up so often (at public hearings) and have scoured the literature…there is no data out there to indicate that dredging a reef is beneficial for the reef.” However, after listening to nearly 4 hours of public testimony and receiving the last-minute letter, TPWC was unable to land on a decision (You can listen to that entire meeting and public comment by following this link:    https://tpwd.texas.gov/publications/multimedia/media/commission_20220324/20220324_com_00_commission.mp3 and forwarding the audio to the 18:41 mark. Dr. Pollack’s concluding comments can be found starting at 3:56:00). As you may recall, they opted to form a task force of stakeholders to develop metrics that would define success of a possible closure and evaluate the oyster fishery from a wholistic standpoint, ultimately providing suggestions to increase sustainability and oyster fishing opportunities.

As the workgroup continues to meet and have valuable discussions, TPWD has determined that the proposal to prohibit oyster harvest in the Mesquite Bay Complex should be brought forward for reconsideration. You can read the entire proposal by clicking here.

So now the opportunity to “try, try again” is before us. On November 3, 2022, TPWC will once again consider the proposal to prohibit the harvest of oysters in Carlos Bay, Mesquite Bay, and Ayres Bay. To consolidate our efforts, we have partnered with FlatsWorthy to bring public awareness to this issue through the usage of Rockport-area billboards, informational videos and mailers. All information on this critical matter can be found at ccatexas.org/oysters and RescueOurReefs.com.

 Please take the opportunity to have your voice heard and “try, try again” by commenting on this proposal. Simply visit the TPWD online comment portal -  https://tpwd.texas.gov/business/feedback/public_comment/.

Public oyster reefs need our help. We must remain vigilant and patient as we work together to increase sustainability of a fishery that means so much to the health of our bay systems. Thank you for continued involvement and engagement in this critical issue. Your ongoing support and grassroots efforts to ensure the health and conservation of our marine resources and anglers’ access to them is truly appreciated.

Please stay on alert for opportunities for public comment prior to and during the next TPWC meeting. We will provide updates via email, on the CCA Texas website and across all our social media platforms.