The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department announced that 10 coastal shellfish harvesting areas will open to commercial and recreational oyster harvest at 12:01 a.m. Nov. 2, 2026. All other harvest areas will be closed to public oyster harvest when the 2026-2027 season begins.

Four of the areas will open despite falling below the department’s current opening threshold. TPWD said those areas have relatively high numbers of market oysters on some reefs, but lower numbers on other reefs kept the areas from meeting the threshold overall. The department said opening them is intended to provide additional fishing opportunities and keep the harvesting fleet from concentrating in one or two areas.

The following areas will 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.

The areas opening below the current threshold are TX-1 in Galveston Bay and TX-13, TX-19 and TX-20 in Matagorda Bay. Four other sampled areas met the opening threshold. TX-33 in Corpus Christi Bay and TX-34 in the Lower Laguna Madre were not sampled, but will also open. TPWD said those two areas typically have no commercial oyster harvest.

Before the season, TPWD collects oyster samples to help determine which areas can open. Its evaluation includes thresholds based on the abundance of legal-sized oysters, which the release identifies as oysters measuring at least 3 inches. Robin Riechers, director of TPWD’s Coastal Fisheries Division, said the department seeks to balance oyster conservation with fishing opportunities for the commercial industry.

Coastal Fisheries staff will continue monitoring harvest areas and will open or close them as the respective thresholds are met. Readers can find harvest-area boundaries and the most up-to-date area status on the Texas Department of State Health Services’ shellfish harvest map.

Based on a news release from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. Read the original TPWD release: Texas Oyster Harvesting Season Opens Nov. 2.