Reef restoration projects aim to bolster Texas’ record-low oyster population

November 14th, 2018

Oyster Restoration Project 2 JF TT 1024x686 Reef restoration projects aim to bolster Texas record low oyster population

Oyster shells along the Gulf Intercoastal Waterway. An oyster restoration project is underway in Matagorda Bay. Jerod Foster for The Nature Conservancy

By Carlos Anchondo, The Texas Tribune

November 14, 2018

With oyster populations in Texas at historic lows, The Nature Conservancy is launching two new reef restoration projects that look to appease commercial fishermen and environmentalists alike.

Using funds from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill settlement, the group plans to develop 110 acres of reef in Galveston Bay and Copano Bay, near Rockport. Half of each reef will be designated as a marine sanctuary where the molluscs — which have significant economic and environmental benefits — may grow. The other half will be open for commercial fishing.

Construction of the new reefs is expected to begin this winter, with harvestable portions ready as soon as 2021.

Laura Huffman, regional director of The Nature Conservancy in Texas, said these projects show a new approach to oyster reef restoration, with the compatibility of building harvestable reefs at the same time as growing a healthy habitat.

“Protecting the ecology of these reefs is essential for protecting oysters, both as a food source and for the economy of Texas,” Huffman said. “We have to pay attention to rebuilding habitat so that we’re giving back at the same time that we’re taking.”

After years of overharvesting and widespread coastal destruction during hurricanes Ike and Harvey, the number of Texas oysters has dwindled to a fraction of their former population. The Nature Conservancy estimates that as much as 50 percent of original reefs remain in the Gulf of Mexico. And in some parts of the coast, it estimates 80 percent of reefs have been destroyed.

The trend poses a big threat to the health and resiliency of the coast. Among other things, oysters can rapidly filter contaminants out of seawater.

Then there’s the economic benefit.

Oysters harvested from the Gulf of Mexico provide half of all oysters eaten in the United States each year – the bulk of which come from Texas and Louisiana, according to Huffman. She said the industry is valued at $43 million each year.

A recent Nature Conservancy report describes oysters as “the ecological building blocks for the Gulf Coast.”

The new reefs will give oysters a better chance at reaching adulthood, which takes about two years, said Lance Robinson, coastal fisheries deputy director at the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.

Robinson is working with The Nature Conservancy on both of these projects. He said building reefs provides a continual source of juvenile oysters that will populate bay systems up and down the Texas coast.

Oysters, as natural filters, then improve water quality.

“An adult oyster filters up to 50 gallons of seawater per day,” Robinson said. “With these 110 acres of reef, oysters there could treat, by volume, as much water as 19 wastewater treatment plants in the City of Houston.”

Besides the oysters’ seafood value, Robinson said their stationary reefs serve as a natural barrier against hurricanes. They also are an all-service habitat for a variety of marine life. Oysters excrete something called psuedofeces, which shrimp and crabs eat as food. That carries up the food chain, as other species come in to feed.

The unique feature of these reef projects is that they are divided into sanctuary and areas for commercial harvest, Robinson said.

By building reefs, The Nature Conservancy is replicating the shell oyster larvae need to latch onto to become adult oysters. Developing oyster larvae float in the water until they find a resting place.

“We have been taking out shell for decades, with very minimal replacement,” Robinson said. “It’s hard to find shell now, so we’re mimicking Mother Nature with materials like limestone, concrete, and river rock that provide that hard substrate.”

These projects will complement recent legislative efforts to crack down on overharvesting.

Last session, state Rep. Ryan Guillen, D-Rio Grande Valley, passed House Bill 51, which, in addition to a buyback program, created a stronger penalty for fishermen harvesting undersized oysters and authorized a fee. Instead of a Class C misdemeanor, a Class B would be issued for multiple violations. It also makes each individual on a boat responsible for violating the law.

Robinson said the penalty acts as a deterrent, with fishermen at risk of losing their license up to 30 days. Harvesting undersized oysters became a major problem after flooding in 2015 and 2016, and Hurricane Harvey in 2017, led to widespread oyster mortality. As demand rose, the price per sack went up, and some fishermen ignored the three-inch size required to harvest an oyster.

Oyster regulations require that any oyster under three inches be returned to its reef, according to the Texas Parks & Wildlife website.

Huffman, the Texas regional director of The Nature Conservancy, said her organization has deep experience with these types of construction projects, pointing to a previous reef restoration at Half Moon Reef in Matagorda Bay.

“We have seen a biodiversity boom, in a good way, in that area,” Huffman said. “Recreational fishermen are going back to Half Moon Reef. It shows that you can’t just harvest. You also have to replenish. That’s exactly what these oyster reefs are trying to demonstrate. You can do both of these things simultaneously.”

Disclosure: The Nature Conservancy and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune’s journalism. Find a complete list of them here.

Read related Tribune coverage

Court Backs State In Battle Over Oyster Reefs
Legal Battle Over Seabed Off Texas Coast Heats Up

“Reef restoration projects aim to bolster Texas’ record-low oyster population” was first published at by The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans — and engages with them — about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.

 

The Texas Tribune is a nonpartisan, nonprofit media organization that informs Texans — and engages with them – about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.

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Galveston Bay oysters continue to recover one year after Hurricane Harvey

September 1st, 2018

harvey oyster galveston Galveston Bay oysters continue to recover one year after Hurricane Harvey

By Brandon Rowan

Some Galveston Bay oyster reefs still struggle one year after Hurricane Harvey. Last August, the storm produced an unprecedented 51 inches of rain that inundated the bay with fresh water. The balance of salinity was upset and this decimated local oyster populations.

“East Bay experienced the worst of Harvey’s effects with very few live oysters left.” Christine Jensen, a TPWD Fisheries Biologist said.

“It remained too fresh for too long for most oysters to survive. Hannas Reef had 51% mortality, Middle Reef had 95% mortality, and Frenchy’s Reef had 100% mortality.  Almost all of the restoration areas in East Bay were killed.”

East Bay was not the only area hit hard by Harvey.

“Some reefs on the west side of the ship channel also saw significant mortality near where Dickinson Bayou drains into the bay. Dollar Reef had 90% mortality and Todds Dump had 62%.” Jensen said.

One year later

The reefs near Dickinson Bay and East Bay have still not fully recovered.

“The reefs that experienced high mortality after Harvey will take at least two years following the storm to recover.” Jensen said. “Our samples this year are showing a later spat set (baby oysters) than usual.”

However, many areas of Galveston Bay have shown improvement. The reefs in deeper water, in the center of the Bay and near the Houston Ship Channel, were able to support several months of commercial oyster fishing during the 2017-2018 season.

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Misho Ivic: A Man For All Seasons

October 31st, 2017

misho dock Misho Ivic: A Man For All Seasons

The man behind Misho’s Oyster Company

Michael Ivic, who the entire modern world knows as Misho, is indeed a Man For All Seasons, even by the standards and description detailed in Robert Bolt’s story of Sir Thomas More.

But maybe our story should be called, A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS PLUS ONE IRON WILLED WOMAN WITH A VISION!

Misho is one of the Texas Gulf Coast’s leading oyster barons (owner of Misho’s Oyster Company in San Leon. See our September issue.) It is a company that recently had to absorb a $1.2 million loss resulting from the flood-waters of Hurricane Harvey. The fresh water deluge destroyed most of Misho’s oyster leases in Galveston Bay, reefs that will take a minimum of three years to recover. In addition, Misho lost his “Oyster House Restaurant” in Rockport, Texas which was at the epicenter of the storm.

But none of this is what Misho wanted to talk about in his cover story. Instead, Misho wants more than anything for the world to know about people, and one person in particular, who helped him to make it as far as he has, to make him who he is. For that, first you need to know Misho.

Born and raised in Croatia, Misho was schooled as an engineer and came to the United States in 1972 intending to pursue an engineering career. But like so many of us, Fate had other plans. Well actually, Fate and a loving wife named Franka, also from Croatia, who had a vision for her family. When Misho married Franka in 1972, he may not have been fully aware of just how much she would be an active partner in his life.

Misho bought an oyster boat, the Indiana and was captaining that boat from 5 a.m. – 7 p.m. every day, even after securing his engineering degree in ’76. But it was his new bride who declared they would have an oyster company. She had more than a vision!

MISHOfam Misho Ivic: A Man For All Seasons

The Ivic Family.

She forged her vision into reality with hard work and long hours as administrator of everything from sales to book keeping, scheduling trucks as well as directing the unloading of boats. A job that consistently took from 10:00 A.M. until midnight or longer. And so it was that Misho’s Oyster Company came into being. Together, the Ivics built an oyster empire and a fleet of oyster boats. Misho eventually found a captain for the Indiana, and Franka handled the business end for years until the children grew old enough to take over the helm, so to speak.

Today, the Ivics rely heavily upon family involvement to keep momentum going. Even so, Franka still keeps a close eye to this very day to make sure the company ship is steered with an arrow straight wake. And here’s a note for the romantics reading this story, Misho and Franka just celebrated their 45th anniversary!

It is a beautiful story of success, both personally and professionally; but there is still more to know about Misho. The following example is very revealing: One of Misho’s deckhands, a man named Johnny from Albania, demonstrated exceptional talent while working on one of Misho’s oyster boats, and wanted to form his own oyster company. Instead of being threatened by this as some might have been, Misho helped Johnny get his first oyster boat.  With Misho’s help, Johnny also became successful. The two men are the closest of friends to this very day. Hence, the motive in my naming this story after Robert Bolt’s hero.

When Misho talks about people he knows, it isn’t as acquaintances, but rather as friends. When he speaks of the people who work for him, it’s like he is talking about an extended family. Credit or praise is never directed at himself but rather at one person or another who helped him along the way, or is still helping him somehow. When you meet him, he does not greet you as an executive would, but rather with a warm handshake and a smile. This is Misho. Now that you understand, I can tell the rest of my story.

But then, there is also the Misho Extended family, for almost everybody who comes to work for Misho quickly comes under the umbrella of the Misho “E F” (Extended family). His workers feel close to him because he treats them with respect. When he talks to them, it isn’t as a worker, but as a friend. And so, when you approach a Misho business and encounter a worker, you can feel the relaxed atmosphere albeit an energized desire to do a job well.

Misho Oyster Company’s right hand man, Miguel, left, with Misho, Joseph and Annie.

The Misho Businesses

Misho is a man of many interests. There is the oyster empire with oyster leases in Texas and Louisiana. He is a wholesale supplier of oysters to restaurants and food businesses all over the United States.

Being a people person, he also has retail establishments known far and wide for oyster dishes. One of his long-time friends and customers is Phil Duke, founder of Gilhooley’s in San Leon. It is fair to say that Gilhooley’s is a national landmark when it comes to oysters. Gilhooley’s has recently been featured in Texas Monthly and GQ. The place is famous for oysters on the half shell, smoked oysters, Oysters Gilhooley, Oysters Picante, fried oysters and more.

When Phil got ready to retire, he didn’t want his creation to be taken over by just “anybody.” So, he sold it to Misho. Now that the baton has been passed, physical improvements to the property will be forthcoming in order to meet state requirements. The old, original license cannot be grandfathered in. We all hope those improvements will not erase the down-home ambiance that is as much a part of Gilhooley’s as the oysters themselves. As it is now, all patrons of Gilhooley’s enjoy a laid-back atmosphere and delicious food at small town, economic prices. Most of all, if you don’t feel like dressing up to eat out, Gilhooley’s makes you feel right at home. It is not a restaurant where the pretentious dwell.

In addition to Gilhooley’s, Misho has assumed ownership of another establishment less than two miles distant from Gilhooley’s at the corner of East Bayshore & 21st Street in San Leon, presently known as Casper’s, but to be renamed ‘BGB’, short for Bayshore Grill & Billiards. BGB is currently under renovation with an anticipated opening in November. Plans are to make BGB a family oriented facility with good food including Oysters Rockefeller and hardcore best prime rib to be found anywhere on the coast.

Previously, ‘Caspers’ was the largest billiards venue anywhere in this area, featuring ten billiards tables. BGB will retain that feature, but with the addition of electronic games geared for kiddos as entertainment while they wait on their food orders.

Villa Franka is located in Orebic, the most beautiful part of Croatia.

So, now you know that Misho is diversified. But I haven’t yet told you of the crown jewel in this wonderful offering. In far-away Croatia, Misho has created a first-class resort named after his revered wife, Franka. It is the Villa Franka and it is located within earshot of the birthplace of Marco Polo. A picture of Villa Franka accompanies this article below. It tells the story far better than words. It is a true get-away offering beauty, tranquility, history and luxurious comfort. So, how does one put a bow ribbon on a story such as this? A picture is worth a thousand words. Enjoy all the accompanying photos including our November cover. We think it will whet your appetite for a little adventure, some good food and perhaps a bit of exotic travel!

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Galveston Oysters After Hurricane Harvey

October 31st, 2017

Gbaysalinity Galveston Oysters After Hurricane Harvey

Texas Department of State Health Services salinity readings.

Unprecedented influx of fresh water ravages reefs

Months after the storm, we are still seeing the effects of hurricane Harvey. A massive amount of freshwater flushed through Galveston Bay and caused heavy casualties to the area’s live oyster reefs.

Galveston oysters need a balance in salinity in order to thrive, usually around 15 ppt (parts per thousand). The low salinities in many parts of Galveston and East Bay have decimated live oyster reefs, to the dismay of local oystermen and women.

In early September, Christine Jensen, TPWD Fisheries Biologist, sampled oysters from the middle of the bay and saw about 20% mortality on those reefs. The Department of State Health Services also took salinity readings (see figure below) and found that salt levels were rising in the lower parts of Galveston Bay but East Bay was still very fresh.

Jensen again sampled public reefs in October and it was determined that areas TX-1, TX-4, TX-5 and TX-6 will not open for oyster season on Nov. 1.

“East Bay experienced the worst of Harvey’s effects with very few live oysters left.  It remained too fresh for too long for most oysters to survive.  Hannas Reef had 51% mortality, Middle Reef had 95% mortality, and Frenchy’s Reef had 100% mortality.  Almost all of the restoration areas in East Bay were killed,” Jensen said.

“Some reefs on the west side of the ship channel also saw significant mortality near where Dickinson Bayou drains into the bay Dollar Reef had 90% mortality and Todds Dump had 62%. However, several reefs in the middle of the bay survived fairly well and have higher numbers of live oysters than they have had in many years.  The numbers of oysters in TX-7 were starting to rebound prior to Harvey and luckily survived with relatively low mortality.  This area will open for oyster harvest on November 1.”

salinity10 25 NOAA Galveston Oysters After Hurricane Harvey

NOAA’s Galveston Bay Salinity Nowcast, a computer-generated forecast guide shows that upper Trinity and East Bays are still very fresh as of late October.

Upper Galveston, Trinity and East Bay still remain relatively fresh with salinity less than 10 ppt. But there is a silver lining; the reefs in the middle of the bay are doing well with higher catches than have been seen in many years. Also, there is a lot of clean cultch (dead shell) for oyster larvae to settle.

“A clean place for larvae to settle has always been a limiting factor in Galveston Bay for oyster numbers to rebound,” said TPWD Biologist Christine Jensen.

“Hopefully, we will see a quick return in a few years if mother nature will cooperate.”

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A Hero Nonetheless

October 31st, 2017

raz halili pic A Hero Nonetheless

Raz Halili of Prestige Oysters.

To be sure, people who put their own well-being and safety aside in favor of helping their fellow man are in a special class of their own. Perhaps the most interesting part of all is, these special people walk among us and never declare themselves as being anything other than our neighbors and friends. I find that mind boggling. They deserve to wear a uniform or a badge, something that identifies them. But no.

Raz Halili fits this category. Following Hurricane Harvey he didn’t hesitate a moment to enter the breach, rescuing people first on his jet-ski, then later taking an oyster boat down the coast to Post Arthur where he engaged in rescuing hundreds of stranded people.

Was he in danger? Yes, absolutely. He must have known it, he was undaunted. This is called courage, the hallmark of a hero. So, although a vision of himself as a hero is invisible to him, he is a hero, none-the-less. Many TV stations, radio stations, newspapers and magazines apparently agree with me because he became an overnight sensation on all sorts of media, not just locally or nationally, but globally including being on every station in Albania, homeland of his father, Johnny Halili. Indeed, one lady on social media pegged him as a “hottie” and that went viral.

Amazingly none of this attention has gone to his head. As Heir Apparent to the Prestige Oyster empire, his focus is on running the family business, which he does quite well. Lisa, his mother is extremely proud of him, calling him a “good son.” But it’s the way she says it. You can tell, she’s bursting with pride. And ladies, I hate to tell you this, but Raz Halili is taken, off the market, not available. He has a long-time girlfriend to whom he is very devoted, so that’s that!

The old axiom is; “All glory is fleeting.” But in this case, not the hero. He’s just the same guy he was the day before the storm hit, and will be tomorrow. P.S. Look for this particular hero to appear in the movie The Bay House as the waiter.

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Misho’s Oyster Company

September 6th, 2017

mishodock Misho’s Oyster Company

How Croatian native Misho Ivic built an oyster empire on the Gulf Coast

By K. Pica Kahn

misho Misho’s Oyster Company

Misho Ivic

Misho Ivic, owner of Misho’s Oyster Company, one of the three largest oyster producers in Texas, didn’t start out in Texas or in the oyster business. Originally from Croatia, Ivic’s father, an engineer and a professor, told him he needed to leave his homeland for a better life in the U.S.

“When I was 11, he said, ‘this is not a country for you,’”said Ivic. “‘Go to America, but get an education first.” He had been asked to join the communist party three times and refused. He wanted a better life for me. My father was raised by the Franciscan monks after his mother died when he was a child, and he was suppose to be a monk. Someone in our family had been a monk for 300 years.”

But life had other plans for the father. Speaking five languages, his father was one of a few people who could communicate with Yugoslavian/Croatian business people, so that and his work as an engineer helped him support his family in style. He was sent to South America where he was able to earn a good deal of money and upon his return, he was asked to be a professor. So the son also went to university to become an engineer.

He got a job in the oyster industry making $20 a day as a deckhand on an oyster boat. The second year, Ivic bought his first oyster boat, a 50-foot boat for $8,000. As his own boss, he had job security, couldn’t get fired and learned the trade. Without finishing his degree, he came to this county at the age of 32 and finished his education at the University of New Orleans as a mechanical engineer in 1976 after working for over two years in Croatia in the oyster industry.

“I was advised by a friend to go to Texas and buy an oyster lease, which I did,” said. “I came to Texas and in 1977 I bought three leases. My dad said you need to work as an engineer, so I did that too.”

He worked designing several boats and equipment. He was also involved in designing some conveyers for oysters. He now had eight boats and six leases producing 420 acres of oysters.

“In 1983, I went to work as a mud engineer making $54,000 a year as an engineer and making $120,000 in oysters. I was married by that time and had four kids, and I’m still with the same woman 45 years later.

“That was the last time I ever worked for anyone again. I had the oyster business, and I never went back to engineering. I decided we needed to buy a dock.”

However, the property he wanted in San Leon was $150,000 and he couldn’t afford it. But after Alicia, the owner went down to $50,000 and Misho had his docks.

He now has seven docks, he owns four and leases three. With six children, all but two of them work in the family business living within 15 miles of each other from League City to San Leon. They are all hard workers, he said, and they all seem to adore their father. The feeling is mutual, he says. The family’s closeness and devotion to both the family and the business helps, they believe, to make them successful.

“People can feel how much we care,” said daughter Annie. “I think it even makes our oysters taste better,” she jokes.

Emily, is a teacher in Austin and Kathy is in Croatia, involved in real estate and is a good mother. Annie, is in business with dad. Michael is his right-hand man, while Annie and Joy work in the oyster business in administration. Francis is a mom with three kids. Unlike some families they get long well and spend a lot of time together.

“I love my family and I love oysters. I eat them almost every day,” he said. “I like Gilhooley’s restaurant for oysters. I liked them so much, I bought the restaurant recently. Oysters need brackish water; part saltwater and part freshwater. Gilhooley’s make them with Parmesan cheese and charbroils them. They are delicious.

“Our oysters are not processed, have no hormones or preservatives, and they are pure as can be and very good for you. In countries where they eat a lot of oysters, there is almost no diabetes or heart disease and they attribute that to the oysters. They help blood move throughout the body. That is why they are thought of as an aphrodisiac.”

Misho’s Oyster Company is among the top three oyster companies in Texas although they sell all over the country from Texas to Virginia and Maryland. Half are sold in Texas.

“I am very proud of the company, but all my life, I have been riding a roller coaster. I never feel secure,” he said. “You never know when everything can change. If I have to, I can always go back to working on the boats, but not for $20 a day. No more deckhand for me. This time I will be the captain!”

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Oyster Gardening

January 3rd, 2017

bayou vista oyster Oyster Gardening

Bayou Vista Resident Jeannie Kidwell pulls up her oyster bags with Galveston Bay Foundation’s Haille Carter and Michael Neibuhr. Photo: www.stockyard.com

Residents hang bags from their docks to spawn bi-valves

By Janice Van Dyke Walden

Good things happen over wine, and in this case, it was oyster gardening.  At a Wine Social last Spring, Bayou Vista resident Chris Roper suggested to her neighbors that they collectively cultivate oysters, right from their docks.  It’s a program that Galveston Bay Foundation started in 2010, and has been doing with success in Kemah and San Leon.

Fourteen residents signed up to help, and in June, they gathered at the Roper’s driveway on Blue Heron Drive to create the 5-pound bags.  In all, they assembled 25 bags.  Again, wine was the elixir. “We were bagging with oyster gardening in one hand and wine in the other,” says Chris.

With Galveston Bay’s oyster population at an all time low, beset every two years by silt, storms, low salinities or high salinities, Galveston Bay Foundation is enlisting communities to spawn their growth and shore up subsiding land.

Bayou Vista’s tightknit bay community is a perfect setting to try out the nursery program.  At the intersection of I-45 and Hwy 6 near Galveston, it’s built around a series of residential canals fed by Highland Bayou.  On the community’s southeast boundary lies a wetland fed by West Bay.  Residents hung bags from their docks both on the bayou-canal side and the wetland side to see where the oyster larvae, spat, would take hold starting in June.

•••

Six months later, on this last day of November, it’s time to collect the bags, check for spat, and move the bags to an oyster bar breakwater so they can mature.  We’re at the Roper’s residence, it’s a brilliantly clear afternoon, and the folks from Galveston Bay Foundation are curious to see what’s inside two ice chests at the Roper’s front door.  Hallie Carter, Galveston Bay Foundation’s Habitat Restoration Coordinator, and Michael Neibuhr, Program Technician, open the chests and remove the wet towels covering bags that neighbors have dropped off.  One bag, hung in the canal, shows no spats; the other, hung in the wetland, is full of spats.  Commenting on that neighbor’s results, Chris says, “We’ve had very little influx.  I’m not surprised that our water in the canal was not absolutely full of silt.  It was dark brown.  You couldn’t see anything.”

Unlike Chesapeake Bay, where oyster gardening has been going on for years, it’s not legal to seed oysters here.  In Texas, it has to happen naturally.  So, if communities want to build oyster populations, they have to set their bags in optimum conditions.  This first year at Bayou Vista is a telling example for future sites.

Jeannie Kidwell has just returned from Christmas shopping for her grandkids when she comes to her dock to help pull up her half-year effort.  “I was a Foster Parent,” she says.

Haille and Michael open her bags and the others on the Roper’s dock, sorting the shells, looking for spats.  “I’m amazed at what I see,” says Haille.  She’s finding spat on every 10 oysters.  Some shells are covered with three or more spat.

oyster spat Oyster Gardening

That’s a spat! The oyster gardening program is designed to spawn new oysters each year.

It will take two years for this spat to grow to the legal 3-inch-size oyster for harvesting.  But these will never be harvested.  Today they’re going into restricted waters off Galveston Bay Foundation’s 449-acre Sweetwater Preserve.  There, the oysters will build a breakwater for land quickly eroding at a rate of two feet each year.  The waters at the edge of this Galveston Island preserve connect to Bayou Vista’s wetland nursery.  “When we transport spat, we have to keep them in the same sub-bay system,” says Haille.  And, in this case, it’s West Bay.

The evening is closing in when we arrive at the Sweetwater Preserve to deposit the bags.  Near the water is a tall pile of oyster shells, a curing site for those collected from nearby restaurants.  So far, six Bay Area restaurants participate in the shell-recycling program.  They’ve been given 32-gallon collection bins that Galveston Bay Foundation retrieves and brings to the curing site on a weekly basis.  Michael led that effort for most of last year. “I’d visit Tookie’s the most, about three times a week,” he says.

Shells at the curing site will go into the 5-pound bags for the gardening program.  They also make up the 35-pound bags that form this and other breakwaters.  Since 2011, the program has collected 570 tons of shells.

As they set the bags in the reef, Haille talks about how the program will expand to Galveston Island in the next year.  “We‘ll partner with Gaidos and Cajun Greek, and continue our partnership with Texas A&M-Galveston with students picking up shells at those recycling sites and taking them to the curing sites.”

Oyster gardening is easy for families to do with their kids, and it’s a good way for kids to connect to their eco-system.  To get involved, contact:

Emily Ford | eford@galvbay.org

www.galvbay.org/get-involved/volunteer

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Oysters in Peril

August 30th, 2016

By Janice Van Dyke Walden | Photography by Jim Olive

oliveoysters Oysters in PerilIt’s just after peak growing season for Eastern oysters in Galveston Bay, but on this day you wouldn’t know it.  When the field team and scientists with Texas Parks and Wildlife conduct a normal, random dredge sampling at dawn, the results are anything but normal.

In her orange-gloved hands Coastal Fisheries Technician Claire Iseton holds three empty oyster shells.  The few oysters that do come up in the basket are black and lifeless.  Coming up empty within site of Kemah’s famous seafood boardwalk where oysters are on the menu from November through April 30 is not a good sign, but it’s a trend that’s been deepening since 2000, when oysters large enough for the market suddenly plummeted and have been on a steady decline since.

What it takes

There’s no telling the age of the live and dead oysters dredged up this morning, but what the team does know is that it takes about two years for a spat to become a mature oyster.  And, the bay’s once prolific oysters reefs just haven’t had enough time to recover before they are dealt another blow.

Cattle-crossing prolific

Over 50 years ago, oyster reefs in Galveston and surrounding bays were so common that the coastal roads were paved with oyster shells.  Over a century ago, before roads and railroads, a natural oyster reef linked both sides of Galveston Bay.  So prominent was this reef that, given a stiff north wind and a low tide, cattle crossed the bay on this ridge.

Blow-by-blow, every two years now

Galveston Bay used to account for 80% of Texas’ harvested oysters.  Today, that number is more like 40%.  Although the counts have been in decline for over 20 years, it has stepped up in the last eight years with a major setback every two years.  In September 2008, Hurricane Ike hit, covering nearly half the oyster beds of Galveston Bay with smothering silt.  The situation in East Bay, behind Bolivar’s Peninsula, was worst: over 80% were silt-covered from the storm.  Then in 2010, the lack of fresh water due to the drought sent salinity rates soaring, exceeding what oysters could live on.  The next year, 2011, oysters were hit by the Red Tide, and then, back-to-back, last year and this year, excessive rains flooded the bay with freshwater, beyond the oysters’ capacity to survive. According to TPWD’s Fisheries Biologist Christine Jensen, the bay’s average salinity for this July was ”getting closer to normal, but still low at an average of 11.5 parts per thousand.”

Pressures all around

Add to these natural pressures, there’s the human pressure: more people live in Texas than 50 years ago, and there’s more demand to enjoy oysters at the table.   Fishermen are pressured to harvest the very material that might provide the future harvest.  And, they can get a good price for it.  In 2014, a sack of oysters commanded $35, up $20 from 1993.  Given current low harvest counts, this year’s price may well be that, or higher.

oliveoysters2 Oysters in Peril

Claire Iseton inspects an oyster sampling on TPWD’s vessel, the Trinity Bay, at a reef within sight of the Kemah Boardwalk.

Recovery, Restoration, Intervention

It’s unknown just how much of Galveston and the surrounding bays are covered with oyster reefs.  The last complete mapping survey was done 21 years ago by Eric N. Powell who tapped the bottom of the bay with a pole to pinpoint reefs.  His research on the Eastern oyster continues.  Sophisticated technology like hydro-acoustics and side scan imagery has been useful for mapping specific losses, like in the aftermath of Ike, but the application for the whole bay is considered time consuming.

In the meantime, man’s efforts to recover the losses seem like a drop in the bucket.  Since 2009, reef restoration efforts have only restored about 1/10 of what’s been lost, 1,300 acres of the bay.  And, many of those restoration sites are off limits to fishing until they can flourish.

On June 11, Galveston County Judge Mark A. Henry took the first step to help area oyster business owners get financial assistance by declaring a local disaster.  In order to get funding, oysters farmers will need a disaster declaration from the State of Texas.  The Judge is in the process of submitting a formal request to Governor Abbott for targeted legislation to address the issue.

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