Serious Eats
Effects of Hurricane Ike on the Oyster Industry
Photograph by Robyn Lee
Galveston Bay won't be harvesting oysters for a while, according to Misho Ivic, the owner of Misho’s Oyster Company in San Leon in Galveston County. Most boat docks, refrigerated storage facilities, and shucking plants are "in shambles," reports Robb Walsh for the Houston Press.
But, luckily oysters are pretty resilient to hurricane weather. They are so adaptable, in fact, they'll change their sex from male to female or vice versa to keep population numbers up. Lance Robinson, a Texas Parks and Wildlife oyster specialist, thinks we should be okay overall:
Short term, Hurricane Ike will have a detrimental effect on the Galveston Bay oyster industry. Long term, it will probably be positive.
Of course Walsh would be on top of this issue. His book Sex, Death and Oysters: A Half-Shell Lover's World Tour will come out in January of 2009.