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TPWD briefing: oyster harvests remain below historic levels; restoration, buyback and mariculture work under way
Summary
Coastal Fisheries Director Robin Rikers told the commission that public oyster harvests remain far below pre‑hurricane levels, outlined restoration projects funded by NRDA and other sources, and provided an update on a license buyback and other efforts to stabilize the fishery.
At a May 22 briefing, Coastal Fisheries Director Robin Rikers told the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission that public oyster harvests in recent seasons are substantially below levels recorded before major storm events. Rikers said years of episodic freshwater events and storm impacts have reduced standing oyster populations and changed the distribution of harvests among bays.
Rikers reviewed data showing public commercial harvest has declined from peaks of several hundred thousand sacks per year in the 2000s to more recent levels closer to 200,000 sacks. (A sack is defined as 10 pounds and typically contains roughly 200 oysters; ex‑vessel value has ranged in the millions of dollars.) Rikers and presenters said…
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