Matagorda County Receives Funding to Expand Aquaculture Education and Oyster Initiatives on the Texas Coast

MATAGORDA COUNTY, Texas (April 2026) — Two grants have been awarded by Matagorda Bay Mitigation Trust to support aquaculture education and oyster restoration initiatives in Matagorda County. Amy Nowlin is implementing the grant on behalf of Matagorda County through her extension position with Texas A&M AgriLife Extension and Texas Sea Grant, bringing both programs into the effort. 

The funding will support the launch of a pilot Aquaculture Boot Camp for students at Palacios High School, as well as expand a Mid-Coast Texas Master Naturalist (TMN) project, Oyster Gardening: Cultivation for Restoration — both designed with the intent to strengthen coastal workforce development, environmental stewardship, and sustainable seafood production. Dr. Mario Marquez, Texas Sea Grant Aquaculture Program Manager, is serving as co-lead for the bootcamp.

Nowlin has led several initiatives in the region focused on oyster conservation, aquaculture education and youth engagement in coastal science. These new awards build on those efforts by connecting students and community members directly with the working waterfronts and ecosystems that shape Matagorda Bay.

The Mid-Coast TMN Chapter, with support from Pat Cruz, Coastal and Marine Extension Agent for Aransas County, will oversee on-the-ground project management, serving as oyster gardeners while supporting outreach, volunteer recruitment and oyster collection throughout the project.

Additional details about the Aquaculture Boot Camp and oyster gardening programs will be announced as the initiatives move forward.     

Aquaculture Boot Camp

The Matagorda County Aquaculture Boot Camp will be a hands-on summer program immersing coastal Texas high school students in oyster, red drum, and shrimp aquaculture. Developed in partnership with Palacios High School, the program will connect classroom learning with real-world application by introducing students to aquaculture systems, marine science concepts, and career pathways in coastal industries.

Through hands-on training and interaction with aquaculture professionals, students will gain practical job skills, build industry connections, and explore careers that support both coastal economies and sustainable resource management. Graduates will leave the program with foundational knowledge and tools that can translate to work in hatcheries, aquaculture farms, and coastal restoration activities.

“The goal is to give students a real look at how aquaculture works and how it contributes to coastal food systems,” said Nowlin. “By working directly with aquaculture systems and industry professionals, students gain skills and experiences that can open doors to careers in marine science, seafood production and other coastal industries.”

As a pilot initiative, the Aquaculture Boot Camp is designed to serve as a model for a potential three-year Career and Technical Education (CTE) pathway, creating long-term workforce opportunities for coastal youth while supporting the resilience of Matagorda Bay ecosystems and the region’s seafood industry.

Oyster Gardening: Cultivation for Restoration

A second award will expand the Oyster Gardening: Cultivation for Restoration project by providing supplies and outreach materials to grow the community-based program. The initiative engages residents in restoring oyster habitat while increasing awareness of the ecological and economic importance of oysters along the Texas coast. 

Throughout the growing season—which is typically six to seven months—participants raise young oysters (spat) in specially designed cultivation bags or cages suspended from private docks and piers in coastal waters, monitoring oyster growth, observing natural recruitment and collecting ecological data. As oysters develop, the gardens also serve as small habitat hubs, attracting fish, crabs and other marine life while improving water quality through natural filtration. At the end of the season, the gardened oysters are relocated to protected reef sites where they continue to grow and contribute to long-term restoration.

Partners supporting the project include the Matagorda Bay Foundation, Sink Your Shucks, Dr. Beth Silvy and her research students at Texas A&M University, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and the Palacios Marine Agriculture Research Center (PMAR).

This season, PMAR will also provide hatchery-produced spat-on-shell for research purposes. Specifically, for every bag of recycled oyster shell (“cultch”) deployed for natural spat recruitment, a corresponding bag of spat-on-shell will be deployed alongside it, allowing the team to compare growth, survival and reef development across both approaches. The findings will help guide future site selection and restoration strategies while improving understanding of oyster recruitment dynamics along the Texas coast.

Please note that this is a controlled educational extension project conducted with oversight from multiple advising organizations. The purpose of this project is to explore the science of oyster aquaculture and to increase public understanding of how aquaculture is managed and how it supports industries that rely on natural resources. This project should not be interpreted as consumption-driven. Texas Sea Grant and the Texas Master Naturalist Program do not encourage or support the cultivation of oysters for personal consumption outside of established regulatory, food safety, and health code frameworks.

For More Information:

Additional details about the Aquaculture Boot Camp and oyster gardening programs will be announced as the initiatives move forward. For questions on how to get involved and for similar initiatives and projects, please visit texasseagrant.org. 

About Texas Sea Grant

Texas Sea Grant is a unique partnership that unites the resources of the federal government, the State of Texas, universities, and communities across the state to create knowledge, tools, products, and services that benefit the economy, the environment, and the citizens of Texas. It is administered through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and is one of 34 university-based Sea Grant Programs across the nation. Texas Sea Grant is a non-academic research and extension program at Texas A&M University. The program’s mission is to improve the understanding, wise use, and stewardship of Texas coastal and marine resources.