Developing an Ecosystem-based Conservation Framework for Oyster Reefs Across Texas Estuaries

Oyster reefs are integral parts of estuarine seascapes, providing both direct fisheries value and a variety of services related to water quality, shoreline protection, or habitat provision. However, extensive oyster harvesting alongside a variety of environmental and anthropogenic stressors has pushed oyster reefs throughout the Gulf of Mexico to the brink of collapse.

In the Texas Coastal Bend, which harbors some of the healthiest oyster reefs in the United States, management of oyster reefs is performed by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD). TPWD has a variety of management actions at their disposal, ranging from localized restoration efforts (e.g., cultch placement, reseeding, or live oyster transplants), to seasonal and long-term harvesting closures. Yet, where, when, and why any of these management decisions are most effectively implemented, and how the benefits of harvest closures stack up against environmental or anthropogenic stressors is remarkably poorly understood. The goal of this project is to use a holistic, ecosystem-scale monitoring framework that compares oyster reef functioning across harvestable and closed reefs. This will provide TPWD with the information needed to decide:

1. Whether currently protected reefs can serve as sources of enhancement for open reefs through live oyster transplants, or whether additional restorative management actions (e.g., cultch placement, reseeding) are needed to further bolster closed reefs;
2. Which restorative management actions are most appropriate to implement on currently harvested reefs; and
3. Where and when these actions are most likely to succeed in light of prevailing environmental and anthropogenic drivers across five bay systems in South Texas.

This project seeks to develop a tool that permits the quantification of oyster reef functioning across South Texas and allows for simple predictions of the effects of management actions on oyster reefs given their environmental and anthropogenic context. Thus, this project will greatly advance TPWD’s current management decision-making process by providing crucial insights into the consequences of a different management actions across space and time.