The Time to Improve the Sustainability of Our Texas Oyster Fishery is NOW

The Oyster – A Valuable Resource

Oysters are resilient organisms and the reef systems they create through generational recruitment are the backbone of our bay systems. They serve as essential fish habitat, refuge, and food for over 300 aquatic species while also providing valuable ecosystem services such as water filtration, wave attenuation, erosion control, and shoreline protection.

The estimated value of oysters in the water is $2,000-$40,000 per acre, which includes benefits of increased biodiversity and fish production, protected shorelines, and improved water quality⁴. Additional benefits of oyster reefs for recreational angling are estimated to be $23,000 per acre³. In total, the value of oysters in the water is much greater than that generated from commercial harvest from degraded reefs, estimated at $880 per acre⁴.

Simply put, Texas oyster reefs are a critical component of the natural landscape, providing vital services for our bay systems and coastline. The importance of oysters as the backbone of our bay systems and as a valuable commercial fishery means management of this resource is paramount. Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) must manage oysters as a fishery and as a habitat, therein lies the user conflicts that we often see in this fishery and the differences in values placed upon the fishery.

A Growing Problem

Public oyster reefs (wild reefs) in Texas and across the Gulf of Mexico are not what they used to be^1,2,5,6. As resilient as they are, they are not immune to the compounding effects of storms, droughts, floods, and mechanical dredging.

Expanding on the latter, we have seen an increased strain on the Texas oyster fishery due to…

• A larger demand for oysters
• Wild-sourced oysters from other Gulf states decreasing

To curb the strain on the resource the Texas Legislature passed a law in 2005 which established an oyster license moratorium, meaning they will not issue any new licenses but can renew existing ones on an annual basis. The idea was to reduce the number of boats fishing on public oyster reefs. Unfortunately, that bill had a yearlong forward-looking implementation date and the oyster industry rushed to purchase additional licenses, increasing the number from 350 to 760. Through some attrition the number of licenses has decreased to today’s current number of 533.

Still, the demand for Texas oysters has continued to rise which has led to increased participation for available licenses. Even previously latent licenses that were renewed yearly began to be utilized to meet this demand, undermining TPWD’s efforts to manage the fishery through traditional measures such as bag limit reductions and fishing days. So, as you might imagine, we’ve seen a rise in the monetary value of these licenses.

Currently, more boats are active in the fishery than the resource can support, causing the available harvest to be quickly exploited. As areas are heavily fished and the number of marketable oysters reaches threshold levels, TPWD has been required to close certain harvest areas. This sometimes has the unintended effect of concentrating large numbers of boats into smaller areas leading to quicker harvest, concern over adverse impacts to vertical relief and reef integrity, and increases in user conflicts (read more here).

To put this growing problem in perspective, during the 2021-2022 season, 448 of the 533 available licenses (83%) reported landings. Historically, licensed vessels that landed oysters used to be in the 350-vessel range. That’s a significant increase that weighs heavily on the sustainability of our Texas oyster fishery.

The Key - Achieving a Sustainable Level of Oyster Licenses

The oyster fishery is overcapitalized and TPWD needs help in getting the number of active licenses down to a sustainable level. The ultimate goal, as agreed upon by TPWD and the commercial industry, is to get the number of licenses down to the 250-300 range. One way to do this is through the Oyster License Buyback program. This was established by House Bill 51 of the 85th Legislature in 2017.

The buyback program is structured as a reverse bid process, meaning that license holders inform TPWD of the price for which they would surrender their license.

• From 2018 - 2022, TPWD held five rounds of oyster license buybacks. A total of 15 bids were received over those rounds, with bids ranging from $4,450 to $50,000.
• Only 3 licenses have been purchased to date, at an average price of $7,150.
• During the most recent round of buybacks (early 2023), TPWD received 54 bids with an average bid price of $99,519, the lowest bid price was $35,000 while the highest bid price was $500,000. 13 bids came in at $50,000, while the street value of these licenses is somewhere in the $20 - $30K range.

What does this all mean? The oyster industry is attempting to fleece the buyback fund and artificially inflate oyster license values. However, by TPWD’s own admission, it has become clear that to attract more bidders, the price for licenses paid to active license holders needs to be increased. While buybacks are in this price-discovery phase, there are other management actions under development, but first, let’s set the stage for the discussion.

The Public’s Reefs Versus Sustainable Leases

There is a stark contrast in how public oyster reefs are treated in comparison to areas under location (leases). Unfortunately, history teaches us that commercial dredging of public reefs will always befall the tragedy of the commons. As detailed throughout the article, this has most recently played out here in the Lone Star State. Texas historical landings data shows that approximately 80% of the oysters come from public reefs and the remaining 20% from the 2,300 acres in Galveston Bay that are under certificates of location. Those percentages should be further balanced through an expanded lease program, as leases are vastly more sustainable than the pillage that occurs on public reefs. In short, leases are a better way.

A Conservation Victory for CCA Texas and Our Partners

In November 2021, CCA Texas, FlatsWorthy, and numerous conservation organizations took much-needed action and submitted a letter to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission (TPWC), addressing critical concerns with the continued decline of public oyster reefs. In the letter, we provided actionable solutions, clearly spelling out suggested management approaches, such as oyster sanctuaries, to prioritize the structural and ecological value of oyster reefs and requested that TPWC provide opportunities to create more reef systems through a structured conservation/restoration lease program (restoration leases) and an expanded commercial lease program. The restoration leases would be off-limits for harvest and the commercial leases harvestable exclusively by the leaseholder.

The following November, in a major win for the conservation of our oyster fishery, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission (TPWC) adopted a proposal to permanently prohibit oyster harvest in Ayres, Mesquite, and Carlos Bays. These three bays are characterized by a diverse network of intertidal and deep oyster reefs, expansive seagrass beds, and fringing salt marsh, all of which provide critical nursery habitat for numerous aquatic species. In addition to the ecosystem services provided by these reefs, the positive role oyster reefs play in this habitat mosaic cannot be overstated and the proximity of Cedar Bayou to this area, serving as a migration and recruitment corridor, further justified the reason for this closure.

Moving Forward and Continuing Critical Conservation Work

Now, the work to expand commercial leases and establish restoration leases is underway. At the direction of TPWC Chairman Beaver Aplin, an oyster regulations workgroup consisting of 5 commercial seats, 4 conservation and environmental seats, and 1 academic seat, is working with TPWD on the framework for these programs. Additionally, a bill moving through the legislative process aims to further facilitate the leasing process.  Sponsored by Senator Lois Kolkhorst (R-SD 18) and Representative Todd Hunter (R-HD 32), Senate Bill 1032 and House Bill 2475 clarify the definition of a “natural oyster bed” and clearly give TPWD authority to expand oyster leasing opportunities for both harvestable commercial operations and non-harvestable restoration activities. The passage of this bill would be an immense win for our bay systems, guaranteeing more oysters in the water and more opportunities to invest in the health of our bays.

Oyster license buyback and leases aren’t the only steps that need to be taken to improve the sustainability of this fishery. There certainly are additional options available such as promoting the increased transition to cultivated oyster mariculture, improvement of oyster restoration strategies, establishing additional spawning sanctuaries, bay-specific harvest quotas, and even traditional measures such as gear restrictions, sack limits, and fishing days/season.

One thing is certain, while we put in a great deal of work to get to this point, we will continue to take steps towards improving the health and sustainability of our Texas oyster fishery here and now.

Works Cited

1. Beck, M. W. (2011). Oyster Reefs at Risk and Recomendations for Conservation, Restoration and Management. BioScience, Vol. 61(2): 107.

2.   Camp, E. e. (2015). Collapse of a historic oyster fishery: diagnosing causes and identifying paths toward increased resilience. Ecology and Society, Vol. 20, No. 3.

3.   Carlton, S. e. (2016). Half Moon Reef - Measuring the Recreational Fishing Benefits of a Restored Oyster Habitat. Texas Sea Grant Publication-TAMU-SG-16-303.

4.   Grabowski, J. H. (2012). Economic Valuation of Ecosystem Services Provided by Oyster Reefs. BioScience, Vol. 62, Issue 10, 900-909.

5.   Kirby, M. 2. (2004). Fishing down the coast: Historical expansion and collapse of oyster fisheries along continental margins. Environmental Sciences, 101 (35) 13096-13099.

6.   Rothschild, B. e. (1994). Decline of the Chesapeake Bay oyster population: a century of habitat destruction and overfishing. Marine Ecology Progress Series, Vol. 11 29-39.