CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — A local restaurant owner is bringing oyster farming to the Coastal Bend on an eight acre farm in Copano Bay.
"I have the first permit ever issued in the state of Texas for oyster farming," said Brad Lomax, who owns Water Street Restaurants, and is now co-owner of the Texas Oyster Company.
Oyster farming, which exists along both east and west U.S. coasts, was only approved in Texas two years ago. Lomax is getting ready to place oyster cages on eight acres in the south end of Copano Bay.
Lomax says, "We will be putting baby oyster seed, the oyster about as big as the end of your finger in cages, in floating cages on that lease out in Copano Bay."
It's a float system of raising oysters. The nearly indestructible floats suspend the combination net bags and wooden cages near the surface to allow oysters to grow faster than they do naturally on the ocean bottom.
During their growth, each oyster filters between 40 and 50 gallons of water a day while they feed. Lomax said the farm should be in operation this summer.
"Nine to twelve months, hopefully this time next year, we'll be serving them at the Water Street Oyster Bar."
Steen Gunderson, CEO and president of BBI Group, manufacturers of oyster farming equipment, says oyster farming is not only environmentally friendly but also acts to repair damaged bays and estuaries.
"Systems have been brought into essentially water desert scapes so that nothing but sand. Within a couple of years of the Oyster Gro system, you see sea grass and eel grass coming back onto the sea floor. You see enviro diversity. They're like a floating reef."
Lomax says he's supporting legislation which will create an advisory committee to help streamline the permitting process for the oyster farming industry on the Texas Gulf Coast.
"If we can develop an industry that satisfies consumer tastes and helps the environment, man, we're, we're ahead of the game."
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