 The Galveston Bay Estuary Program (GBEP), a program of The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), is part of a network of twenty-eight National Estuary Programs (NEP) in the United States, working with local stakeholders to restore and protect estuaries of national significance that are threatened by pollution, development, or overuse. Galveston Bay became part of the National Program in 1988.
 GBEP's specific mission is to preserve Galveston Bay for generations to come. Galveston Bay is known as an estuary, which is a semi-enclosed body of water where freshwater from rivers, bayous and tributaries mixes with salt water from the Gulf of Mexico. This mixing provides a unique environment that houses coastal plants unique to this area and offers a nutrient rich environment that nurtures juvenile marine organisms such as shrimp, oysters, crabs, and numerous fish. Without the estuary to protect the growth of these hatching young marine life, there would be no seafood to serve in local restaurants! The estuary also offers hundreds of residents and migratory birds both shelter and food.
It is an incredibly complex ecosystem that includes important habitats and food webs. The Bay itself, its tributaries, wetlands, trees, and land all provide homes, protection, or food for complex groups of species. Fish of all types and sizes either live in the Bay and its tributaries or they use the waters as they migrate in and out of the Gulf of Mexico. Crabs hide from predators in underwater grasses, while oysters filter water as they feed on plankton. The intertwined combinations of relationships are countless.
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