COVID-19 has had severe economic impacts along the Texas coast specially the seafood industry and has raised new challenges in providing support and assistance to industry stakeholders. Texas recently passed HB 1300 that allows cultivate off-bottom oyster mariculture along the coast which allows the production of farmed oysters, but due to the pandemic, the industry has been slow to develop. In the wake of COVID-19 restrictions being lifted in along the coast, Texas Sea Grant has developed hands-on training and business workshops that is teaching farmers how to successfully develop their oyster business and navigate this new industry. With the new industry and type of farming that is being implemented, much technical assistance is needed in preparation, education, and training in beginning a oyster business, so Texas Sea Grant aims to assist with workshop trainings and business classes to provide technical support and troubleshooting to the farmers. Workshops have been conducted along the Texas coast to educate and train oyster farmers about off-bottom oyster culture industry. Texas Sea Grant also aims at educating the public and seafood industry on cultured oysters to potentially build partnerships with farmers and other stakeholders to further develop the industry.
Texas is the last coastal state to adopt oyster aquaculture, and with the state having one of the largest shorelines in the nation, there is much potential to for growth of the new industry. In 2017, oyster aquaculture produced $186 million dollars nationally, and the Gulf of Mexico aquaculture industry represented 22% of the national aquaculture production value (NOAA Fisheries, 2018). Texas has had a long history of being one of the largest producers of wild-caught oysters nationally with its many suitable areas for farms, but the new industry has considerably different techniques and methods that involve hands-on technical training and assistance that Texas Sea Grant will assist farmers in. Now that Texas has lifted restrictions on the COVID-19 pandemic, there is renewed potential for the industry to recuperate and get back to track.