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AUSTIN, Texas - The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department will open 10 shellfish harvesting areas to commercial and recreational oyster harvest beginning at 12:01 a.m. on Monday, Nov. 2.
Texas Oyster Season opens Nov. 2
These oysters were shucked at Jeanine Beckham's Cedar Key Oyster & Clam Co. (Kevin Spear/Orlando Sentinel/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
What we know:
The openings follow TPWD collecting samples prior to the shellfish harvesting season. Officials evaluated the abundance of legal-sized oysters, which are at least 3 inches long, among other factors.
TPWD said TX-33 and TX-34 were not sampled but will open to provide additional fishing opportunities and help distribute the fleet at the start of the 2026-27 oyster season. The agency said those areas typically do not see a commercial oyster harvest.
Full list of open Texas shellfish harvesting areas
The following areas will be open:
- Galveston Bay: TX-1 and TX-5
- Matagorda Bay: TX-13, TX-19 and TX-20
- Aransas Bay: TX-29, TX-30 and TX-32
- Corpus Christi Bay: TX-33
- Lower Laguna Madre: TX-34
Fleet distribution rules, closed shellfish areas
Dig deeper:
TX-1, TX-13, TX-19 and TX-20 are opening below the current threshold to provide additional harvest opportunities and prevent the fleet from concentrating in one or two areas.
All other shellfish harvesting areas not listed above will remain closed to public harvest beginning at 12:01 a.m. Nov. 2.
TPWD Coastal Fisheries staff will continue monitoring the areas and may open or close them as the respective thresholds are met.
Balancing oyster conservation
What they're saying:
"Maintaining the balance of conserving oyster resources with fishing opportunities for the commercial industry is important for the industry and for Texas’ reefs both now and for the future," Robin Riechers, director of TPWD’s Coastal Fisheries Division, said in a news release.
What you can do:
A map of Texas oyster harvesting areas and the latest status information is available on the Texas Department of State Health Services’ shellfish harvest map.
The Source: Information in this article was provided by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.