In Texas, Hurricane Ike (2008), the Deepwater Horizon disaster (2010), and extreme salinity depressions from rain events (2015 and 2016) reduced harvest and purchase of wild oysters. These natural and human-induced events spurred the discussion of oyster culture in Texas, as well as further assistance with oyster restoration. To assist the industry and environment The Oyster Resource and Recovery Center in Palacios, Texas, was proposed and will receive support from Bucket 1 of Deepwater Horizon disaster fines allotted to Texas. The project will be initiated when contractual agreements are executed between the federal government, the Texas state agency handling the RESTORE funds (www.restorethetexascoast.org), and our institutions.
Approximately two years ago, discussions with agency, non-profit organization, and oyster industry personnel, noted that a state regulatory framework for oyster culture did not exist and questions about community acceptance were unknown. This past year, the 86th Legislature of Texas passed House Bill 1300 (HB1300) and Senate Bill 682 (SB682) that gave Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) and TPW Commission the authority and requirement to establish a program governing "cultivated oyster mariculture" by September 2020.
In the prior year, eight public presentations were conducted to determine if there were potential unknown user conflicts and if the public had solutions for these conflicts. A survey was given before a presentation on bivalve aquaculture, which included potential conflicts, and then completed after the presentation period. Meeting size ranged from 5 to 51 individuals as determined by those that returned surveys; total number of surveys obtained was 244. A majority (67.6%) were generally familiar with aquaculture. Before the presentation, a majority had a positive opinion of aquaculture (65.1%) and a positive opinion of bivalve aquaculture (62.6%) as compared to a negative opinion of aquaculture (3.8%) or bivalve aquaculture (2.5%); the remainder indicated no opinion or mixed opinion. After the presentation, the proportion of respondents indicating a positive opinion of aquaculture rose to 89.8% and to 89.3% for bivalve aquaculture. The proportion of respondents still indicating a negative opinion to aquaculture decreased slightly to 3.3%, whereas it decreased to 0.9% for bivalve aquaculture, with the remainder still indicating no opinion. The information developed during this project should aid TPWD as it establishes a program governing off-bottom, mid-water, and surface culture of oysters in Texas waters. Texas oyster culture may not be there, yet, but should be by late 2020 with production occurring in 2021.
The research project data noted here resulted from Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission award ACQ 210-039-2017-TAMU to JS; the presentation and survey were reviewed by the TAMU-CC Institutional Review Board.