Austin, TX
Why Are West Coast Oysters So Hard to Find in Austin?
After a recent frustrating workday, the only way I could resuscitate my mood was with a stiff gin martini and some premium oysters. I headed to a popular seafood bar where I found an impressive selection of oysters from New England and a few from the Gulf Coast. Alas, there were none of what I craved most: West Coast oysters — rich, sweet, and almost creamy. I asked the bartender about the availability of Pacific bivalves. The bartender hesitated before answering. “We do, but we don’t list them. We’re not supposed to serve West Coast oysters in Austin.” You see, Northern California and Washington oysters are illicit off-menu options at this particular Texas restaurant.
So I did what any self-respecting oyster lover would do; I ordered a dozen buttery California Kumamotos, feeling like a speakeasy renegade during Prohibition. But my curiosity was fully piqued. Why can’t Austin restaurants legally sell West Coast oysters?
The short answer is that West Coast oysters are illegal in Texas, thanks to an obscure law passed by the Texas Legislature back in 1989. “[It’s] the only state that I’m aware of that prohibits sales of Pacific oysters to consumers,” confirms Bobbi Hudson, executive director of the Pacific Shellfish Institute in Olympia, Washington.
What’s the rationale? Essentially, it was a precaution. Pacific oysters are considered an invasive species. “They’ve been shown to establish naturally reproducing populations outside their natural range,” Hudson says. So when West Coast oysters are introduced to new locations — say, Texas — through discarded oysters — the bivalves are quickly able to mate and produce baby oysters, expanding their population to the point where they outnumber the native breeds in the area.
Pacific Coast oysters are especially-effective “ecosystem engineers,” as Hudson puts it. They change their environments through their capabilities as filter feeders, removing algae, nutrients, and other particles from surrounding waters. They also carry microbes and bacteria on their shells that are foreign to new waters and can have negative effects on existing ecosystems, thus pushing out local aquatic life. As a result, throughout the world, Pacific oysters already “dominate global shellfish aquaculture production,” she says.
When the Texas law was established in 1989, the oyster restrictions in the state applied only to the oyster breed known as Pacific oysters, which originated in the waters surrounding Japan. Then, in 2021, the state decided to further protect Gulf oysters by passing a tighter law that banned any species that isn’t native to the Gulf, aka “controlled exotic species.” Under these restrictions the broad category Crassostrea virginica — also called the Eastern oyster (because they are, yes, found in the East Coast of North America) — are permitted. The distinction between Gulf and Eastern oysters is where the bivalves grow.
So per the rules, all West Coast oysters — from Kumamoto to Olympia — are illegal to source and sell in Texas.
But rules are often bent or broken.
Hudson is aware that some establishments still serve West Coast oysters in the state. But she isn’t too worried: “I would argue that the risk isn’t high,” referring to potentially introducing invasive species into Texas.
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West Coast oysters “pop up more frequently” than you’d expect, says Brendan Yancy, founder of Austin Oyster Co., though businesses generally have to get a bit creative to acquire their black market bivalves. With wholesalers unwilling to skirt the law, restaurants often turn to the farms directly, says Yancy, and of those farms, there are only a small handful willing to risk their license by defying the state of Texas.
Some businesses will downplay said liability, insisting that Texas law enforcement doesn’t prioritize enforcing oyster provenance. However, Daniel Berg, owner and executive chef of Austin restaurant Bill’s Oyster, knows that those aren’t empty threats. “We recently had a Texas game warden come into the restaurant to check our tags and make sure we weren’t serving West Coast oysters,” he says, noting that they don’t. “I was pretty shocked by that.”
Berg also doesn’t feel limited by Texas’s regulations especially with the option to import East Coast oysters. He prefers Northeast ones because they’re “smaller and more briny,” while he feels the Gulf oysters are “larger and not as clean-tasting.” (He admits Gulf oysters are better for grilling and frying.)
Bill’s Oyster works with local seafood distributor Minamoto Foods, which has strong connections with oyster farms in New England and eastern Canada. Since Texas is so far away from those prime oyster regions, it’s hard to connect personally with these farmers. “Trusting and relying on [a distributor] is important,” Berg says.
Yancy, on the other hand, has family connections in the Northeast, which means access to farms in Massachusetts, Maine, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire. It’s inherently the ethos of his business: “The whole concept is really bringing East Coast oysters to people in Austin,” he says of Austin Oyster Co. (The company grew and harvested its own oysters from Portland, Maine for the first time this fall season.)
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Yancy does believe the viability of Texas oysters. “I’m rooting for Texas farms,” he says. The state’s oyster industry is far newer than its other counterparts, which puts farms like Texas Oyster Ranch, Jeri’s Oysters, and DJ’s Oyster Co. at a disadvantage. “They’ve got a lot of uphill battles against them,” he says, which puts the state’s oyster industry behind competitors in other states. Yancy notes that the Gulf’s warmer temperatures create a higher yield than the colder Northeastern waters, but because the state’s oyster farming infrastructure isn’t yet equipped to handle the volume, Texas has some catching up to do before they can meet the oyster farming scale the West Coast, East Coast, and even other Gulf regions like Louisiana.
Can there be a way to legally have West Coast oysters in Austin without becoming a shellfish outlaw? There aren’t any above-board answers just yet, but Hudson says that science may already have a solution. “From a biological perspective, there are ways to create organisms that can’t reproduce,” she says. “With Pacific oysters, it’s already routinely done around the world to control gonad development” — a process that, according to the University of Washington, involves stopping the maturation of the oyster eggs. The resulting reproductively-inactive “triploid” oyster happens to have more tender and flavorful meat year-round in addition to being unable to realistically reproduce (Read: less of a threat to Gulf oyster populations). Until genetically modified bivalves become more widely available, West Coast oysters are only available on an if-you-know-you-know basis. So keep your eyes peeled and your conversations with oyster bartenders flowing — you might just score a secret stash.
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Austin, TX
Lawsuit: Brianna Aguilera’s parents allege underage alcohol service at Austin tailgate contributed to daughter’s death
The parents of Brianna Aguilera have filed a lawsuit against two organizations, alleging that they served alcohol to their underage daughter which contributed to her death in Austin.
Before Aguilera fell to her death from the Rio 21 Apartments in West Campus, the lawsuit states that she attended a tailgate at the Austin Blacks Rugby Club’s facility, organized by the UT Latin Economics and Business Association.
Both the Austin Blacks Rugby Club and the UT Latin Economics and Business Association were listed as defendants in the lawsuit.
>> What we know about Texas A&M student Brianna Aguilera’s death in Austin
Even though the lawsuit states Aguilera was “noticeably intoxicated” at the tailgate, her parents argue that the defendants continued to serve her alcohol.
According to court documents, Aguilera allegedly began stumbling at the tailgate and needed help standing at times. At some point, the lawsuit said she fell into the woods and lost her phone.
After leaving the tailgate at approximately 10 p.m., court documents state Aguilera died around two hours later.
The lawsuit also accuses the defendants of negligence and gross negligence for serving alcohol to Aguilera despite her age and allegedly overserving her.
In the suit, Aguilera’s parents demanded a trial by jury and sought at least $1 million plus interest, costs and punitive damages.
Aguilera’s parents also seek damages for wrongful death, citing the defendants’ alleged misconduct.
Houston-based attorney Tony Buzbee, who’s representing the Aguilera family, commented on the lawsuit in a Tuesday news conference.
Watch the full news conference below:
“Brianna was obviously overserved,” Buzbee said. “Even the police have concluded that she was overserved at that tailgate. She was not 21.”
Buzbee also stated that the Austin Police Department has allegedly told multiple witnesses not to talk with him and Aguilera’s parents.
“They told the three, the three individuals that were in that apartment that night when this young girl died. They told them, do not speak to Brianna’s mother or her lawyers,” Buzbee said.
He said that the lawsuit could provide a way for the witnesses to eventually come forward with information.
“By filing this lawsuit, not only will we hold accountable an entity or entities that were involved in overserving Brianna and other minors, but we will also be able to subpoena individuals and documents and video and data so we can continue our investigation,” Buzbee said.
KSAT’s sister station, KPRC, has reached out to both the Austin Blacks Rugby Club and the UT Latin Economics and Business Association for comment on the lawsuit. This story will be updated once the organizations provide a statement.
More coverage of this story on KSAT:
Copyright 2026 by KSAT – All rights reserved.
Austin, TX
Cedar pollen eases, but record heat builds across Central Texas
Although record-breaking heat and spring-like warmth dominated the first few days of the new year, cooler — but still warmer than normal —temperatures settled in to start the first work week of 2026.
The heat will ramp up yet again Tuesday and Wednesday, with temperatures about 20 degrees above the normal early-January high of 62 degrees.
Expect a blanket of low stratus clouds and some patchy dense fog Tuesday morning, but skies should begin clearing around lunchtime.
“In the meantime, a surface trough (of low atmospheric pressure)/dry line will push from the southern Edwards Plateau into the I-35 corridor, bringing temperatures into the lower to mid-80s,” meteorologists with the National Weather Service wrote in a forecast discussion Monday. “It is going to be very warm for this time of year, and some daily high temperature records could be broken.”
Those temperatures could rival record highs at both Austin climate observation sites, Camp Mabry and Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, where the standing record is 84 degrees, set in 1989.
Behind the dry line Tuesday, drier air will move into Central Texas, leading to a slightly cooler start Wednesday under mostly to partly cloudy skies.
Morning temperatures will dip into the 50s around sunrise before climbing into the upper 70s to mid-80s by the afternoon. Those highs would surpass the record of 80 degrees set in 2008 at Camp Mabry.
Temperatures the rest of the week will remain above normal with mostly cloudy mornings but sunny afternoons.
A cold front is forecast to move across the region later in the week with a slight rain chance Thursday and Friday, but most of the rain will fall north and east of Austin. However, cooler and more seasonable weather is expected this weekend.
This past weekend, Austin experienced the highest cedar pollen counts so far this season with a count of 3,200 grains per cubic meter Saturday and a peak of 4,000 grains per cubic meter on Sunday. However, the count dropped to just over 1,000 grams per cubic meter on Monday. Humidity has been on the rise in the past few days, and winds have been much lighter. Those factors have helped “settle” the cedar pollen for the time being.
Luckily, the winds have turned southerly and are much lighter, so the pollen has settled a bit. A small chance of rain on Thursday and Friday should also help dampen cedar pollen before it becomes airborne. However, above-normal temperatures will allow tree pollen cones to continue opening, setting the stage for another pollen surge when the next breezy cold front arrives.
Austin, TX
Venezuelan oil reboot not expected to spur windfall in Texas
Texas reacts to Venezuelan leader being taken into custody
With former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro out of power, President Trump said he wants to reboot the oil industry in Venezuela. That idea has raised questions about whether it could cause a price spike at the gas pump and a downturn in the Texas oil patch region.
AUSTIN, Texas – With former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro out of power, President Trump said he wants to reboot the oil industry in Venezuela.
That idea has raised questions about whether it could cause a price spike at the gas pump and a downturn in the Texas oil patch region.
Now, a spike at the pump and a production slump in the Texas oil patch may not happen this year, but with oil prices down, a budget crunch for state lawmakers may be waiting when they return to Austin in 2027.
What they’re saying:
The situation in Venezuela is creating a lot of political uncertainty, but a Texas energy expert said he is not expecting that uncertainty to cause an oil patch crash or a gas pump pike in 2026.
Prices at the pump are low and despite some recent big swings, up and down, analysts say 2026 could see the lowest prices since the pandemic. That prediction has people like Dale Owens cautiously optimistic.
“Things change so drastically nowadays. I mean, look what’s happening with the government, so anything can affect the price. But right now I’m really happy that it’s stable,” said Owens.
There are big reasons for that local gas price stabilization, and it predates the leadership change in Venezuela, according to Ed Hirs, an Energy Fellow at the University of Houston.
“The first is that the president has asked MBS (Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman) and OPEC nations to continue pumping a pace. Number one. Number two, this helps hamstring the Russian economy and its war effort. And that’s also one of the goals of not only the European Union, but of the Trump administration. And number three, we’ve got the midterm elections coming up,” said Hirs.
The price of a barrel of oil is expected to increase slightly because of the uncertainty regarding Venezuela. Texas crude oil production, according to an update released Monday, was stable in December, but state data also showed drilling permits for 2025 were at 369 and that’s down from 459 in 2024.
“When President Trump took office, oil was about $80 a barrel, today it’s under $60 a barrel. We are the high-cost producers in the global commodity oil market, and the cost of drilling these wells has gone up by between 5% and 12%, primarily because of Trump’s steel tariffs. Not only does the imported steel now cost a lot more, but domestic producers raise their So the producers in West Texas and across the Permian Basin are getting squeezed by much lower revenues, $20 a barrel less and much higher cost. It’s not a good capital investment for Wall Street,” said Hirs.
Dig deeper:
The oil industry remains a big part of the Texas economy and the state budget. State lawmakers will return to Austin in 2027 to crunch numbers for a new two-year budget.
“I think they need to be looking at the budget. So the state comptroller needs to be running the numbers now based on lower oil revenues, not only for state lands, for example, for the universities, but for the state tax receipts. And that applies to the counties and cities that rely on these revenues to keep their budgets balanced. It’s going to be lower for longer,” said Hirs.
There are also doubts about whether the Texas refineries will get a financial windfall if the Trump Administration is able to reboot the oil industry in Venezuela. There are about six refineries in Texas and Louisiana that can process the heavy crude that is located in Venezuela.
“Well, it might help keep them open. But Lyondell just closed down a 100-plus-year-old heavy crude refinery on the Houston Ship Channel because it just doesn’t make any sense to reinvest in it. And it was going to require $750, $800 million of new capital investment just to keep the plant operating at par,” said Hirs.
What’s next:
Stocks for several oil companies did increase on Monday. Chevron, at one point, had a 10% stock price surge, mainly because Chevron is the only U.S. company operating in Venezuela. Other energy-related companies also saw an increase, like Exxon, as well as industry suppliers like Baker-Hughes and Halliburton.
The action on Wall Street came after President Trump said he wants energy producers to pay for the oil production rebuild. Hirs described the administration’s plans as being “naive.”
Past attempts to rebuild another country’s oil infrastructure seem to back up the doubts raised by Hirs. In 1989, after the Soviet Union collapsed, companies like Exxon went in to rebuild — only to get kicked out later by the Russians. Hirs also noted the rebuilding effort in Iraq, started by President George W. Bush, hasn’t returned production there to pre-war levels. And it’s the same story for Libya, which was done under President Obama.
The Source: Information from interviews conducted by FOX 7 Austin’s Rudy Koski and previous coverage
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