TS Bill may have killed off remaining oysters
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GALVESTON BAY “OYSTER WAR ALREADY CLAIMS 100,000 SACKS OF OYSTERS
Oyster fisherman worry rains from Tropical Storm Bill may kill much of the remaining young oyster population in Galveston Bay.
That’s the latest bad news from a summer that has already seen millions of dollars in oysters killed, both by mother-nature and the ongoing war over oyster rights in Galveston Bay.
A mission to save oysters in East Galveston Bay after the Memorial Weekend storm failed, and the results are devastating.
Hundreds of thousands of oysters are gone. Two million dollars-worth.
But the culprit is not just Mother Nature.
Members of the oyster industry are blaming STORM for this seafood mass killing.
“STORM boats illegally harassed our oyster boats as they tried to save these young oysters,” says Lisa Halili of Prestige Oysters. “They circled our boats dangerously close, and their constant videotaping of our fisherman scared them into resigning and refusing to enter the area.”
Before Bill came ashore, Oyster companies were moving their young oysters from legal state leases after recent storms affected salinity in East Bay. STORM boats tried to disrupt this rescue mission. The Chambers County Judge who owns STORM claims he now controls 23,000 acres of Galveston Bay because hometown politicians gave him a lease. The state has told STORM the lease is illegal.
“We have been warning the state to take action to stop the harassment of oyster boats in Galveston Bay for
weeks,” says Wayne Dolcefino of Dolcefino Consulting. “Now we have the added damage done by Mother Nature.”
Prestige Oyster in San Leon are among those oyster companies available to comment.
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