Compliance & Enforcement - Seafood and Aquatic Life Safety

Our Promise 

To ensure the safety and protection of our community, we provide steps to file a seafood and aquatic complaint.  

As a notice, our compliance team performs the following functions:  

  • Local and county health departments are typically the first source of information for licensing and certification of seafood related activities within their jurisdictions. We recommend contacting these entities before contacting the DSHS Foods Unit or Retail Food Establishments Unit (listed below). When a county or municipality does not have a health department, the Texas Department of State Health Services has jurisdiction over these areas. 

  • The DSHS Foods Unit is responsible for licensing of seafood wholesalers, seafood repackaging or relabeling, seafood processing (other than crab meat), and packaged food intended for customer self-service. 

  • The DSHS Retail Food Establishments Unit is responsible for permitting of restaurants, retail food stores, mobile food vendors, bed and breakfasts, catered food, vending machines, take out services, and food delivery services. 

Enforcement Actions

There are currently no Seafood and Aquatic Life enforcement actions to report. 

Disciplinary actions are taken by regulatory authorities in response to a violation of the law or rules. Different kinds of actions may be taken depending on the severity of the offense, the history of previous violations, efforts made to correct the violation, the harm to the victims, the likelihood of a repeat violation, and other matters related to each case. 

These actions are taken to protect and promote the health, safety, and welfare of the citizens of Texas. 

Complaint Resource

To file a complaint, you can mail the contact information provided below.

For assistance on filing, you can reach out to Kirk Wiles or Gary Heideman.