FROM THE COAST

Plying the muddy waters of Galveston Bay, the Texas oyster-man labors to bring Gulf oysters to the tables of shell fish-crazed Dallasites. But not this year. The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department canceled this year’s oyster-fishing season, which usually runs from November 1 to April 30. The mollusks, Parks and Wildlife officials contend, have been overfished and the beds are in danger of being depleted. They need a year to recuperate. But what will this do to the price and availability of oysters in Dallas? Within three weeks of the announcement of the closing of Texas beds, the market price of a hundred oysters jumped from $17 to the current $21 per one hundred- that’s 21 cents an oyster at cost. Double that for retail: you pay 58 cents an oyster at Atchafalaya River Cafe. Bill Presley, sales manager for Landlock/Booth Seafood suppliers, thinks that prices and supply will remain stable. “Most Dallas oysters come from Louisiana-about 90 percent,” he says.