Big Tree is run by Belaire, a conservation biologist, and her husband Gambill, a marine hydrographer and builder of Black Duck Skiffs<\/a>. Both grew up in Rockport and reconnected years later at Belaire\u2019s mother\u2019s memorial at the Boiling Pot, a local seafood institution. That meeting became a hinge moment \u2014 not just for their romance, but for the Texas oyster industry.<\/p>\n Dr. Amy Belaire and Seth Gambill. Big Tree Oyster Company<\/p>\n These days, Big Tree Oyster\u2019s owners return to the Boiling Pot every week with their blended family to order their oysters off the menu in what Belaire calls a \u201cfull circle moment.\u201d Their three help out with the business too.<\/p>\n \u201cEverett helps tumble them; Merritt helps deliver them; Cooper helps harvest them,\u201d she says. \u201cEach of the kids plays a role in getting these oysters here. How cool is that?\u201d<\/p>\n Belaire earned a PhD in biology and spent years in Austin working in conservation, returning to the coast just as oyster farming opened in Texas. Gambill\u2019s mapped the Texas coastline for more than two decades, building boats and gear designed to withstand the shifting currents of Copano Bay.<\/p>\n \u201cTexas is a high-energy environment,\u201d he says. \u201cConstant wind, constant chop. A lot of the gear used elsewhere just does not hold up here.\u201d Gambill\u2019s expertise ensures every piece of equipment is engineered for the bay, a practical advantage most growers lack.<\/p>\n Their timing was crucial. Texas oyster reefs have faced years of crises. The state long relied on wild reefs, but storms and changing environmental conditions have devastated natural habitats. For example, Hurricane Ike in 2008 destroyed roughly 60 percent of Galveston Bay reefs<\/a>, and Hurricane Harvey in 2017 caused catastrophic flooding that led to prolonged low salinity, widespread oyster mortality<\/a>, and shellfish harvest closures. Because oysters cannot move, repeated hits compounded the damage. When House Bill 1300<\/a> legalized oyster farming in 2019, with permits following in 2020, the path for sustainable, long-term production had been laid out.<\/p>\n Dozens of farmed oysters. Big Tree Oyster Company.<\/p>\n For Belaire, whose parents ran a restoration company rebuilding wetlands and reefs, oyster farming is a continuation of her family\u2019s legacy. Farmed oysters are naturally sustainable. They don\u2019t need feed or added nutrients and filter water as they grow \u2014 up to 50 gallons a day. Their floating cages function as microhabitats for marine life. After harvest, Big Tree sends shells to reef restoration groups so the calcium can return to the bay.<\/p>\n \u201cWe want to put more back than we take out,\u201d Belaire says.<\/p>\n To ensure consistent, high-quality oysters, Belaire and Gambill employ a rigorous hands-on approach: tumbling cages every few weeks to thicken shells and deepen cups, and sun-drying weekly to control barnacles. This controlled method produces oysters uniform in size, shape, and flavor.<\/p>\n The flavor reflects merroir, the marine equivalent of terroir. Copano Bay is fed by creeks and rivers that keep salinity bright, and constant winds keep the water well mixed. The result is a plump, briny oyster with a hint of sweetness. Dr. Lindsay Glass Campbell of Texas Parks and Wildlife<\/a> notes that farmed oysters challenge long-standing stigma in Texas.<\/p>\n Dr. Campbell tells Eater that oyster mariculture wasn\u2019t common in Gulf states until recently, thanks to robust wild oyster populations. As mariculture became more common on the East and West coasts, preferences began to shift in that direction. \u201cMany people have only had a wild or dredged oyster from the Gulf,\u201d she says. These oysters don\u2019t have the look or taste of what people have become used to thanks to mariculture on the coasts, lending to the idea that Gulf oysters are better suited fried and on a sandwich.<\/p>\n Map of where Big Tree Oyster Company is. Emma C. Schmidt \/ Big Tree Oyster Company<\/p>\n These perceptions haven\u2019t caught up to a new reality. \u201cIf you placed a Texas mariculture oyster in a sampler with those from the East Coast, I doubt anyone would be able to say it was from Texas,\u201d Dr. Campbell says.<\/p>\n Even outside Texas, the quality is turning heads. Author Rowan Jacobsen, who won a James Beard Award for his book A Geography of Oysters<\/a>, sampled Big Tree oysters and others from the state and emailed the couple: \u201cTexas farmed oysters can go toe-to-toe with any oysters in the country. Plump, meaty, and beautifully balanced in sweetness and brine, they are an essential component of any well-curated raw bar.\u201d<\/p>\n Chefs see the difference immediately. At Le Calamar, executive chef Casey Wall uses Big Tree to reintroduce diners to Gulf oysters. \u201cThe balanced salinity with a touch of sweetness puts them over the top,\u201d Wall says. \u201cYou can taste the brine and the oyster. They offer a true expression of Texas.\u201d<\/p>\n Hesitations fade quickly. \u201cThere\u2019s definitely a stigma around Gulf oysters. We talk people through it, and many order a second plate after tasting them.\u201d He also praises the consistency: \u201cBecause Big Tree controls the growing process, what we get each week is unrivaled.\u201d<\/p>\n For Gambill and Belaire, the work is both personal and strategic. They grew up on these waters and watched their town\u2019s OysterFest<\/a> shift from local oysters to out-of-state supply as reefs declined. Now, the festival serves the couple\u2019s Big Tree oysters, cementing a local legacy and ensuring the Gulf oyster industry has a long-term future.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is all so new. Texas is just getting started,\u201d Belaire says.<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/JPAGE-Editorial-BigTreeOysters-0334-ZF-10467-54718-1-009.jpg\"\/)
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