Galveston Bay Foundation Completes Dickinson Bay Oyster Reef Restoration Project
Galveston Bay Foundation (GBF) completed two phases of reef restoration in Dickinson Bay, Texas, in 2018 and 2022, resulting in the construction of four reef mounds. The new oyster habitat was constructed entirely with recycled oyster shell sourced from GBF’s Oyster Shell Recycling Program. The four mounds resulted in approximately 0.4 acres of new oyster habitat, utilizing 750 CY of recycled oyster shell in total.
To expand on these restoration efforts, in Summer of 2026 GBF constructed 2 acres of additional oyster reef. The design was changed slightly to help our oyster shell last longer. We built 10 large rectangular reef mounds, the first 12 inches were rip-rap and then the final 4-6 inches was oyster shell.
Construction of the reef took roughly six weeks. We started in mid-July and finished at the end of August. GBF staff would visit the construction site at least weekly to inspect the construction and complete as-built surveys. We took the GBF boat out and got in the water. On low tide days this was fine, but on high tide days if you weren’t tall enough, you were swimming between the mounds. We did not work with engineers for this project, so it was designed in-house with technical guidance from our many partner agencies.
The idea to utilize various cultch materials came from years of monitoring the reefs. The 2018 and 2022 mounds, constructed entirely of oyster shell, produced healthy, sustainable oyster growth in the top 8-10 inches of reef. However, below that depth, the reef became anoxic and was not conducive to oyster growth. Recycled oyster shell is a difficult material to source , and GBF and partners want to best utilize that material when designing reefs.
Some of the things we saw during monitoring were consistent growth over the years, as well as oysters that reached up to 6.5 inches. Oysters can grow up to 2 inches in their first year. We see crabs, shrimp, fish, mussels, amphipods, and so many species. We also check the salinity and water quality parameters every time we survey to see if there are any large changes that could effect the health of the oyster. This reef is within Dickinson Bay right where Dickinson Bayou empties into Galveston Bay. There is a constant mixing of freshwater and saltwater and it has made for some good oyster growth over the past 4 years.
Additionally, to maintain and enhance the newly restored oyster reefs, GBF transplants spat-on-shell obtained through the Foundation’s Volunteer Oyster Gardening Program every year in the fall. As of December 2025, approximately 1,610 spat-on-shell have been placed on the restored reefs in Dickinson Bay. GBF plans to continue these seeding and monitoring efforts in the future as funding allows.
We want to give a huge thank you to Restore America’s Estuaries and NOAA for providing the funds for this restoration project , as well as Freese and Nichols for continued help with monitoring the project.
Media Contact:
Kimberly Meza, Communications and Marketing Manager, Galveston Bay Foundation
Phone: 281-923-3278
Email: kmeza@galvbay.org
Website: www.galvbay.org
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