The Texas professional and recreational oyster produce season officially begins on November 1 and ends on April 30, 2024. At the start of this season, some shellfish harvest areas may be closed to fishing in an effort to protect and restore oyster reefs that are exhibiting signs of economic stress.
According to Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Executive Director David Yoskowitz, Ph.D.,” Working in collaboration with stakeholders, the Department continues to emphasize the importance of good oyster reefs for both professional and recreational fishing.” D.” Opening oyster season will give business oystering the chance to work some reefs while allowing others to recuperate. Maintaining a healthy and sustainable clam fishery is more critical than ever. The opportunities for the business clam market and the important restoration of normal oyster beds will be expanded by legislation passed earlier this year.
In an effort to spread the professional oyster fleet over more areas, TPWD chose the open areas because they have a fairly high abundance of oysters of legal size. Some oysters harvest areas will be open and be carefully watched if populations of legal-sized oysters do not meet originally stated metrics.
According to Robin Riechers, director of Coastal Fisheries for TPWD,” We had hoped for better diversity figures that would have allowed for more locations to be opened.” However, the summertime weather was not as favorable for oysters rise as we would have liked. To enable our outrageous oyster populations to grow for both business reasons and the ecological advantages oysters offer, we will keep pursuing oyster restoration.
TPWD will keep sampling available oysters harvest areas and near zones that fall short of suggested metrics to speed up reef recovery.
The Department of State Health Services ( DSHS ) website has a map displaying the locations of the shellfish harvest. For the sake of public health, the list above does not indicate harvest area closures. For the most recent knowledge, please visit the DSHS site.
The Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission mandated that the TPWD establish an ad hoc oysters expert workgroup in March 2022 to investigate oysters management techniques and concerns regarding oysters conservation in our sea systems. When opening oysters areas, TPWD has kept asking this group for advice.
When signs of the place being overworked are present, Texas Parks and Wildlife Code permits the crisis shutdown of reefs for oyster harvest. These conclusions are based on TPWD samples that show small catch rates for oysters of legal size that can be harvested.
20 of the 28 crab produce locations along Texas’ coast will get shut down when the oyster season officially begins.
Beginning on November 1st, the following shellfish harvesting places will become open to public produce:
Bay of Galveston
Transmitter – 1.
Node – 2.
Transmitter – 5.
Transmitter – 8.
Bay of Matagorda
TX-11
TX-13
Christi Bay Corpus
TX-33
Lower Laguna Madre
TX-34
Shellfish harvest areas TX-33 and TX-34 have not been sampled or closed in recent years as they have had very few or no reported landings of oysters.
Beginning on November 1st, the following shellfish harvesting areas may be closed to public yield:
Bay of Galveston
Transmitter – 3.
Node – 4.
Transmitter – 6.
TX-7
Transmitter – 9.
Bay of Matagorda
Transmitter – 1.2
Transmitter – 1.4
Transmitter – 1.5
Transmitter – 1.6
Transmitter – 1.8
Transmitter – 1.9
Node – 2.0
Node – 2.1
Bay of San Antonio
Node – 2.4
Node – 2.5
Node – 2.6
Node – 2.7
Bay Aransas
Node – 2.8 *Note TX-28 was closed by the TPW Commission Nov. 8, 2022
Node – 2.9
Transmitter – 3.0
Transmitter – 3.2
