Oyster battle set for Anahuac Thursday
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The future of Galveston Bay may be at stake in a legal showdown this Thursday, October 8th in Judge Randy McDonald’s 344th Disrict Courtroom in Anahuac.
Lawyers for the State of Texas will try to erase a restraining order the Judge imposed last week, stopping the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department from letting anyone take oysters out of a 23,000 acre section of Galveston Bay, even companies who have paid for state leases.
“Because of Judge McDonald’s actions, the safety of the Galveston Bay Oyster Crop is in jeopardy,” says Wayne Dolcefino of Dolcefino Consulting, an investigative firm hired to fight this takeover. “This week, oyster companies were supposed to be transplanting oysters to safer waters so they would be safe to eat. This reckless action and this legal home cooking cannot stand.”
This oyster war is part of a legal battle now being waged across three counties.
Judge McDonald issued the restraining order on behalf of a local Chambers County Company called STORM (Sustainable Texas Oyster Resource Management). STORM claims it has been given the exclusive right to control the entire oyster population in the 23,000 square foot area by the Chambers-Liberty County Navigation District, an unelected board appointed by local officials. The owner of STORM is a local Judge and his politically powerful relative.
The State of Texas has declared that lease illegal, and has warned STORM it will pay for any damages to the oyster crop.
Oyster companies that have invested hundreds of thousands of dollars and are now being denied the right to move their oysters, went to a court in Galveston County for their own restraining order to keep STORM from touching their oysters.
Galveston Bay has been historically one of the biggest oyster producing regions in the country, and this high stakes legal battle could eventually determine if the People of Texas own Galveston Bay, or whether a private company can control public waters.
The hearing is at 1:30 p.m. in Anahuac.
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