Flatsworthy came out with a new video about the destruction of oysters on the Texas coast, specifically middle coast around Rockport/Copano. Oysters are vital to the health of a bay system and Texas is seeing a drastic reduction in our wild oysters.
Just wanted to share this with everyone. For those that dont know, Flatsworthy (https://flatsworthy.com/) is a smaller nonprofit that focuses a lot on habitat conservation, habitat construction, education etc.
The video is super informative and a great watch - definitely a movement that us Texas anglers should be a part of and help it grow.
Thanks for this. I’m ashamed to say I was unaware of the purposeful abuse of the bays by the oyster boats and thought since they are subject to TPWD enforcement, management of the resource was in place. I’ll be active on this cause going forward.
When Flatsworthy started up, I was all onboard. Then I saw them start to partner with the very organization that we all thought was supposed to have our conservation back for the last four decades. In my opinion, the same org that let this mess happen on their watch.
License buyback programs are great, if the license holder is actively fishing. I’ve asked the other org what percentage of the successful buybacks were active and they said they would get a number for me. Mariculture is promising but, in my mind, will do little to fight shoreline erosion since most farms are placed in the middle of the bay.
They talk about GalvestonBay. I wouldn’t eat an oyster out of any part of that bay which is heavily industrialized. In the clip they talk about all the runoff reaching the bays and then in the next breath tell us that oysters filter all that water. Uh hello, that seems problematic to ingest don’t you think? Oysters can carry vibrio and norovirus amongst other things and many people get sick every year here in Texas from eating raw oysters. To me, it just isn’t worth it.
For now, I will continue to support Flatsworthy while expressing to them my disdain for getting the other org involved.
I’ve been out on the water in previous years to witness a veritable parade of oyster boats plying the ICW as they move from one area to the next . Boats can start the harvest Monday, November 3rd. It seems when TPWD closes certain areas for any number of reasons, ALL the boats just go to whatever areas are open and absolutely decimate it.
CCA talks a lot but let this happen…I am not a fan. It’s organizations like them that kill it for the rest because once you realize they are shills you will be skeptical of others.