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Manuel Perez watches as neighboring oyster boats maneuver around the harvesting zone in Galveston Bay, outside of Texas City, on the first day of the oyster harvesting season, on Nov. 1, 2023.

Fear and worry shadow Texas oyster fishermen as another season begins with few reefs open

Despite fishermen’s wishes to delay the season in hopes that oyster reefs recover from years of environmental stress, the state pushed ahead with a Nov. 1 start.


Juan Gutierrez, captain and owner of his boat, prepared his boat for the upcoming oyster harvesting season at a Texas City fishing dock on Oct. 30, 2023.

Restoration offers a possible solution to growing threats

Houston, Texas: Kathy Sweezey, Coastal Restoration Project Manager with the Nature Conservancy (left) and Bill Rodney, Coastal Ecologist for Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, wash off tiles to prepare to examine them October 13, 2023 at a research facility in Houston, Texas. Mark Felix/The Texas Tribune
Houston, Texas: A crab trap used for the oyster spat tile experiment October 13, 2023 at a research facility in Houston, Texas. Mark Felix/The Texas Tribune
Houston, Texas: Bill Rodney, Coastal Ecologist for Texas Parks and Wildlife Department shows where oyster spat had latched to an old tile used on a previous experiment October 13, 2023 at a research facility in Houston, Texas. Mark Felix/The Texas Tribune

Industry members fight for a future at stake

Johny Jurisich poses for a portrait at his family's Texas City dock on Nov. 1, 2023.

Oystermen weather a rocky opening day 

Luis Cabrera, right, lifts an oyster cage as he and Manuel Perez unload a haul in an oyster boat, in Trinity Bay on Nov. 1, 2023.
Manuel Perez culls through oysters, seperating them from rock and shells, on the first day of the oyster harvesting season, on Nov. 1, 2023, in Trinity Bay.
Manuel Perez prepares to bag culled-through oysters during a harvesting expedition in Trinity Bay on the first day of the oyster harvesting season, Nov. 1, 2023.
Neighboring oyster boats maneuver around the harvesting zone in Trinity Bay, outside of Texas City, on the first day of the oyster harvesting season, on Nov. 1, 2023.

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