Texas Parks and Wildlife Department
04/10/2026 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 04/10/2026 14:58
TPWD Closing Oyster Harvesting Areas in Galveston Bay and Matagorda Bay
TPWD Closing Oyster Harvesting Areas in Galveston Bay and Matagorda Bay
April 10, 2026
Media Contact: TPWD News, Business Hours, 512-389-8030
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AUSTIN - The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) is closing oyster harvesting area TX-7 in Galveston Bay and TX-20 in Matagorda Bay to commercial and recreational oyster harvest. TX-7 will close beginning 12:01 a.m. Tuesday, April 14, and TX-20 will close 12:01 a.m. Wednesday, April 15. These closures are based on samples recently collected by TPWD showing a low abundance of legal-sized oysters.
TPWD has worked with the oyster industry to develop criteria for closing areas to harvest. The criteria include parameters for oysters when they fall below certain thresholds based on the abundance of oysters three inches or greater.
TPWD will continue to monitor all areas currently closed to harvest and will reopen them when they meet criteria thresholds.
A map showing oyster harvesting areas, as well as the most up-to-date status information on each area, can be found on the Texas Department of State Health Services website.
Texas Parks and Wildlife Department published this content on April 10, 2026, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on April 10, 2026 at 20:58 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at [email protected]