The oyster area closures have completely broken down the oyster supply chain according to Raz Hallili, and Vice-President of Texas-based Prestige Oyster, working on one of his families boats. Photo: Prestige Oyster
by Ed Lallo/Gulf Seafood News Editor
Permanent and temporary closures of oyster harvesting areas by the Texas Department of Parks and Wildlife (TDPW) have brought protests by oyster fishermen and contributing to the shortage of Gulf oysters, as well as high prices. The department said the move was due to a variety of environmental concerns.
Oysters being offloaded at dock in Louisiana. Texas harvesting area closures and four hurricanes in two years have caused supply issues and price increases. Photo: Ed Lallo/Gulf Seafood News
The department has converted three bays near Rockport to “sanctuary” status, permanently closed to oyster harvesting.
In addition it has issued a temporary closure of oyster harvesting in Galveston Bay, Matagorda Bay, and San Antonio Bay due to a variety of environmental concerns.
“These closures have completely broken down the oyster supply chain,” said Gulf Seafood Foundation’s board chair Raz Hallili, and Vice-President of Texas-based Prestige Oyster. “Closures have put oystermen, as well as processors across the country, out of business. These closures directly affect the lives of more than 1500 Texas families harvesting oysters.”
Oysters are found in most Texas bays, however over 90 percent of the public reefs utilized by commercial and recreational fishermen are found in the closed bays. A statement issued by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, which oversees seafood harvesting in the state, said:
- “We recognize oysters play a uniquely important ecological and economic role. Our goal is to find a balance between these roles by protecting ecosystems while allowing for sustainable fisheries and coastal communities to thrive. Our management strategies use the best available science to ensure Texas’ oyster populations remain healthy and viable into the future.”
The closures have had a major impact on the oyster harvest season in Texas which runs till the end of April. The shutdown was been based on samples collected by the department showing a low abundance of legal-sized oysters.
Restaurants across the Gulf and elsewhere have already began to take oyster items off menus. Thomas “Uptown” Stewart shucks oysters at Pascale Manale’s in New Orleans. Photo: Ed Lallo/Gulf Seafood News
According to Hallili pricing on oysters have hit an all time. The Texas closures, along with the hurricanes in Louisiana, rising fuel and shipping costs and supply shortages have been contributing factors. “Operating and fuel prices are going insane. Now with the closures, it’s not a pretty picture.”
Oyster prices were already rising steadily following the four hurricanes over two years in Louisiana, especially the last one, Hurricane Ida that struck the heart of the state’s oyster production. High prices and oyster shortages have already had affects on restaurants across the country, but especially along the Gulf of Mexico.
Drago’s, a New Orleans area restaurant known for char-grilled oysters, has taken all oyster items off the menu except for their signature-grilled oysters, as well as oysters on the half-shell. The owner of another famous New Orleans oyster restaurant reportedly told a friend. “If I didn’t have ‘oyster’ in my name I would completely take them off the menu.”
In response to the closings, Texas oysterman John Jurisich started the Facebook group Save Texas Oysters that has lead to protests. Members of the “Save Texas Fishermen Coalition” say reef closings have effectively ended most commercial oyster fishing in Texas.
One oysterman at a protest a told a reporter for Crossroad Today, “My boat is sitting at my house. I haven’t been able to work in three weeks. It’s getting super tough.”
In an interview with television station KTRK in Houston, Jurisich said the closures have been devastating. “I’ve spent my whole life building this for my family,” he said.
For Hallili, sitting on bags of oysters, it is the permanent closures that are more worrisome because oystermen will “never harvest cultivated oysters from there again.” Photo: Ed Lallo/Gulf Seafood News
The temporary shutdown will last until oysters become legal size to harvest according to TPWD. “We have a system in place for evaluating oyster reefs, and our biologist continuously monitor the closed areas so when criteria threshold are met they can reopen,” the department said.
For Hallili it is the permanent closures that are more worrisome because oystermen will “never harvest cultivated oysters from there again.”
“As an oysterman I feel targeted,” he told Gulf Seafood News. “If the goal is to make these ‘sanctuary reefs’ then no sport fishing, no recreational and no commercial fishing of any kind should be allowed. Right now Parks and Wildlife have only targeted oyster fishermen. If it is going to be a ‘sanctuary reef’, make it a ‘sanctuary reef’ for everyone.”
The Texas oysterman doesn’t see the price of oysters coming down any time soon. “Maybe in the fall when areas in Texas and the Chesapeake reopen.”
Oyster are our business this will kill us