Spring and summer floods during 1979 killed oysters in Trinity Bay and inhibited spat setting and slowed oyster growth in other portions of Galveston Bay. Opening of the 1979-80 oyster season was delayed 45 days to allow more oysters to reach market size in improved condition. Oyster abundance, which had begun to increase due to the substantial 1978 spat set, was further enhanced by the excellent 1980 set, the largest recorded since 1967.