Commission staff to seek public comment on reduced mariculture fees and expanded triploid parentage

Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) staff asked the commission to place two proposed rule changes for the Cultivated Oyster Mariculture (CALM) program on the agenda for public comment and action.

The proposed amendments would cut annual permit fees for grow-out and nursery/hatchery sites and would broaden allowable broodstock for triploid oysters to include origins from the Northern Gulf region (Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama), subject to TPWD biosecurity and documentation requirements. Dr. Lindsey Glass Campbell, Coastal Fisheries, Cultivated Oyster Mariculture Program, presented the items and described the rationale: industry stakeholders asked for lower fees to encourage small-business growth, and northern broodstock would…