Salt marsh habitats along the shoreline of Halls Lake are threatened by wave erosion, but the reconstruction of barrier islands to reduce this erosion will modify or destroy nonvegetated habitats in West Bay. Twenty-four 1.8-m diameter drop samples were taken in and around Halls Lake in West Galveston Bay during May, 1990 on daylight flood tides to provide information on the relative value of estuarine habitats for fishery species. Over 3,000 fish, shrimp, and crabs were collected from about 39 taxa. In conjunction with other published data on habitat value in Galveston Bay, our results indicate that for most crustacean, the Halls Lake marshes are more valuable than the other habitats examined. The relative value of the habitats for fishes was highly species-dependent. A survey of the West Bay shoreline indicated that valuable salt marsh habitats could be established on created barrier islands if direction of exposure and shoreline slope were controlled.