MATAGORDA, Texas – Oysters are very precious these days, especially when you consider that 50 percent of the oyster reefs in the Gulf of Mexico are now gone.
Prestige Oysters Inc. used to ship out 15 semi-trucks a day filled with 380 sacks of oysters.
"It's a high demand product and it's in season," explained Raz Halili, vice president of Prestige Oysters Inc. "But right now there is a very extreme shortage."
Today, they say they are lucky if they send out three truckloads.
"I think if it keeps going like this, pretty soon we will be down to pretty much nothing," forecasted Halili.
Efforts are going on right now to rebuild an oyster reef in Matagorda Bay.
Over a hundred years ago, the Half Moon Reef was massive, spanning nearly 500 acres.
"The reef has basically almost completely degraded," stated Mark Dumesnil, associate director of Coastal Restoration for The Nature Conservancy in Texas. "I mean there are actually no oysters occurring on the reef this time."
The Nature Conservancy is rebuilding this natural defense by dumping over 93 tons of limestone into the bay.
Their hope is the reef will create a domino effect. The oysters would not only clean up the water, but it would attract an array of sea life. Scientists believe the final result would be a jolt into the Gulf's economy.
"Oyster reefs really are sort of these ecological building blocks of the system," explained Dumesnil.
"I think building an oyster reef is always good. It helps out everybody," said Halili.
At this time, the Half Moon Rebuild is in phase one. By the end of phase 2, those building it hope to have over 57 acres of new oyster reef.