GALVESTON COUNTY, Texas – Channel 2 has learned a request to help struggling oyster farmers on the Texas coast is awaiting review in Austin.
The Galveston County judge signed a disaster declaration last week after floodwaters devastated the oyster harvest. It's now in the hands of the state's Office of Emergency Management.
This year's oyster harvest is almost nonexistent after weeks of heavy rains sent fresh water flooding into Galveston Bay. Local businesses are struggling to salvage what they can.
"My mother and father started [Prestige Oysters]," said Raz Halili, of Prestige Oysters in San Leon, Galveston County. "They started out as deck hands on a boat, worked their way up from the bottom. The American dream."
It's been a Galveston County institution for decades.
Now one of the largest oyster companies in the country, Prestige Oysters is dealing with an economic and environmental disaster.
"Last year we lost half our crop," Halili said. "But this year, it was relentless."
Read: Declaration of local state of disaster for Galveston County
All the fresh water flowing from flooded rivers and streams made its way down to Galveston Bay, basically pushing out the salt water
"Too much fresh water will kill an oyster, and that's what we're seeing," Halili said. "We're seeing loss of some of our reefs, 50 to 80 percent mortality loss."
Galveston County Judge Mark Henry declared a disaster after taking a tour of the bay with Halili and his team at Prestige Oysters.
"It's very, very painful for them," Henry said. "What they pulled up, the oysters were all dead upon being pulled up into the boat."
A large portion of the state's $30 million oyster industry is located right here, so Henry is asking the state and federal government for money to help.
"This is as bad as it would get, I would think," Henry said. "You've got nothing you can harvest and sell in Galveston Bay at the moment."
Lines of boats sit idle. There's no point in sending them out.
"It's really bad for the oystermen here in Texas because they don't get to work," Halili said. "It's tough for these boat captains."
Prestige Oysters is managing to keep its employees busy. The company is harvesting oysters from Louisiana and processing them at their facility. They'll ship them to seafood companies and restaurants like State of Grace in River Oaks.
"We like to really emphasize Gulf oysters and promote them," said Bobby Matos, executive chef at State of Grace. "With the lack of oysters from Louisiana down to Texas, it limits our ability to do that."
The good news for consumers is that right now suppliers and restaurants don't plan to raise prices.
"I haven't seen an impact on Gulf oyster prices or East Coast oyster prices," Matos said.
Henry hopes grant money will help the industry in Galveston County recover.
"Oystermen, in general, we're all resilient," Halili said. "It's an industry; we bounce back from hurricanes, from oil spills, from Mother Nature."
