Tab R, No. 1

TEXAS – CoastalFisheriesState Director’s Report

  1. Coastal Fisheries Statewide Hunting and Fishing regulations were adopted and will be implemented on Sept. 1, 2006.

Prohibit the take of largetooth sawfish (Pristis perotteti): Because of the extreme difficulty that anglers have in distinguishing the endangered smalltooth sawfish from the largetooth sawfish, protection of both is believed to be the only way to protect the listed species.

Remove the requirement for the Tarpon tag: In order to still allow for a state record fish to be retained there will be a one-fish bag limit per day with a minimum size limit that will allow for minimal landings of fish that are thought to be in contention for a state record (i.e., 80 inches).

Black Drum: Currently black drum are managed with a maximum size limit where anything greater than the size limit cannot be retained. Similar to the tarpon rulel, one fish over a maximum size limit (i.e., set at the state record = 52 inches) for black drum is allowed per day.

Reduce the possession limit for flounder to the daily bag limit: The possession limit is equal to the bag limit for the recreational fishery. This will limit a person to 10-fish per trip instead of the 20-fish possession limit they previously could keep if they fish past midnight.

Naming tripletail (Lobotes surinamensis) a game fish: Tripletail is now listed as a game fish, and there is a minimum size limit of 17 inches and daily bag limit of 3 fish [6 in possession].

  1. New Seagrass Protection Rules:

A new regulation goes into effect May 1, 2006 that will affect all boaters who venture into the Redfish Bay State Scientific Area (RBSSA). The RBSSA is a component of both the Aransas and Corpus Christi ecosystems and is bounded by the communities of Rockport, AransasPass, Port Aransas and Ingleside. The area has about 50 square miles (32,000 acres) of prime fishing habitat, including 14,000 acres of submerged seagrass beds, dominated by turtle grass (Thalassia testudinum) and shoal grass (Halodule beaudettei). RedfishBay contains the northernmost extensive stands of seagrass on the Texas coast. This action didn't include any closed areas, but boaters will be held responsible if they damage seagrasses with their propellers. The action prohibits the uprooting of seagrass with a submerged propeller. It does not prohibit the use of electric trolling motors or anchoring in the area.

  1. Texas water policy activities:

At the invitation of Texas Water Development Board (TWDB), TPWD provided input to the regional water planning process. As per SB1 of the 75th Legislature, TWDB is required to review the rules guiding the regional water planning process. TPWD’s comments focused on the need to better incorporate environmental water needs into the planning process and to more effectively quantify environmental impacts associated with proposed water development projects.

TPWD staff attended the Environmental Flows Advisory Committee (EFAC) meeting at the Austin TPWD HQ on May 9. All speakers conveyed support from their organizations for protection of aquatic ecosystems and environmental flows. There is a need to provide funding for the process. It is estimated that at least $4 million per year will be needed by 2010 to support environmental flows research and implementation. A Science Advisory Committee (SAC) was named to support the EFAC. The SAC’s charges are to explore possible resolution of issues raised by the previous SAC, to serve as a technical resource to the EFAC and to coordinate with Agency staff. The next meeting of the EFAC is June 12 at HQ.

  1. Commercial Fishing License Buyback:

TPWD has closed another License Buyback application period (closed March 31, 2006) for CommercialBay and Bait Shrimp and Commercial Finfish Boat Licenses. In the 18th round for the shrimp buyback we accepted 119 bids (60 bay and 59 bait licenses) from the 179 applications this round. If all contracts are completed the cost of purchasing these licenses will be $932,188 (average license cost $7,834). In the 9th round for the finfish license buyback we accepted 14 bids out of 30 applications (total cost = $89,340, average $6,334).

  1. Gulf Shrimp Closure:

The Gulf of Mexico commercial shrimp season for both Texas and federal waters will close 30 minutes after sunset on Monday, May 15 until an unspecified time in July. The closing date is based on samples collected by the Coastal Fisheries Division of the TexasParks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) using trawl, bag seine and other information gathered from the shrimping industry. The Texas closure applies to Gulf waters from the coast out to nine nautical miles. The National Marine Fisheries Service has announced federal waters out to 200 nautical miles also will be closed to conform to the Texas closure. While the statutory opening date for the Gulf season is July 15, the Coastal Fisheries Division will be sampling shrimp populations to determine the optimum opening date for both the shrimp and the shrimpers. No announcement will be made concerning the re-opening until June data are collected.

10/22/2018