Saving Seafood

TEXAS: Texas sees soaring interest in oyster license buybacks

July 1, 2025 — The Texas Park & Wildlife Department’s commercial oyster boat license buyback program saw interest this year from 115 license holders looking to sell — more than in all of the program’s previous years combined.

Lisa Halili, vice president of Prestige Oysters, 103 First St. in Dickinson, said the increased interest is because the state has closed the harvest areas where smaller boats could go, meaning operators can’t put their licenses to use anymore.

Halili isn’t among the operators offering to sell back their licenses.

The department also has changed how the buyback program works, however, which is driving interest among license holders, Zach Thomas, a policy coordinator for department’s Coastal Fisheries division, said.