Texas retires 46 more commercial oyster boat licenses in its tenth buyback round

Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) said on Nov. 2 that the tenth round of its Commercial Oyster Boat License Buyback retired 46 licenses. Add the 112 licenses bought back last year, and nearly 30 percent of the state's commercial oyster boat licenses are now out of the fishery.

The S. Reed Morian Oyster Buyback Program is a public-private partnership with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation. Every license holder who sells is paid a fixed $30,000. Laurie Morian and Coastal Conservation Association Texas are among the backers.

Taking licenses out of the fleet is meant to ease harvest pressure on Texas oyster reefs over the long term. In the TPWD release, Foundation Executive Director Anne Brown credited the program's partners for making the latest round possible.

This is a The Gillnet news desk summary, not a reprint.

Source: Texas Parks and Wildlife Department news release (Nov. 2, 2026).