Red tide could cancel oyster, clam, mussel season

Caused by continuing drought

David Crossley, Oct 27, 11.

Gulf oyster lovers may have to suck it up and settle for oysters from other regions to get their fix, according to a story in the Houston Chronicle:

What’s considered the largest red tide outbreak in the state since 2000 has postponed indefinitely the opening of the Texas oyster season. And without a break in the drought to flush the waterways, the season may be wiped out altogether.

“This is a major blow. It’s bad,” said Buddy Treybig, the owner of Arnold’s Seafood Processing Plant in Matagorda, who has been told the red tide bloom is getting worse, not better. “There’s going to be a lot of smaller companies that won’t survive, not just if they’re in the oyster business.”

Oystering on private leases in Texas already had been closed for weeks, but Wednesday the Texas Department of State Health Services banned harvesting of oysters, clams, and mussels along the Texas coast until further notice. MORE