Galveston red tide bloom monitored; menhaden and mullet in the kill

Texas Parks and Wildlife biologists started getting red-tide reports off Galveston on Sept. 8. The Sept. 14, 2026 media statement says the Kills and Spills Team is still on it — water samples and fish-kill checks from Crystal Beach on Bolivar Peninsula south to the north jetty at Bolivar Roads, plus the southern Galveston Island stretch about 12 miles from the south jetty, including Steward Beach and Pleasure Island Pier.

Samples show moderate to high concentrations of the red-tide alga. TPWD’s release spells it Kerenia brevis; that is the Gulf’s Karenia brevis. Beachgoers have reported mild to severe respiratory irritation. Through Sept. 14 the dead fish on the beach were mostly Gulf menhaden and striped mullet, with other common species in smaller numbers. KAST is still mapping how far the bloom runs and what is in the kill.

Red tide is a naturally dense bloom of that microscopic alga. It produces brevetoxin, which can paralyze fish and leave them on the sand. Dense water can look like reddish patches. Questions about human health or eating fish and shellfish go to the Texas Department of State Health Services, not TPWD — DSHS keeps the harmful-algal-bloom seafood page.

This is a The Gillnet news desk summary, not a reprint.

Source: TPWD — Official Media Statement: Red Tide in the Gulf (Sept. 14, 2026).