Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Archives

Texas Parks and Wildlife Department announces closure for red snapper fishing starting November 15

November 12, 2021 — Starting November 15, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department will close red snapper fishing in state waters. According to a release from the agency, red snapper fishing will reopen in January 2022 in Texas waters, while federal water will remain closed until the summer.

Under an agreement between TPWD and the National Marine Fisheries Service, TPWD can establish the opening and closing dates of the annual red snapper fishery in federal waters, while also continuing to manage red snapper fishing in state water. As part of this agreement, however, Texas must close the entire fishery when the state’s allotted poundage is reached for the year.

Read the full story at LMT Online

Gulf Shrimp Fishery to Re-Open Off Texas on July 15, 2021

July 14, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

What/When:

NOAA Fisheries announces federal waters from 9 to 200 nautical miles off Texas will open to shrimp trawling beginning 30 minutes after official sunset, local time, on July 15, 2021, corresponding to the time Texas opens its waters to shrimp trawling.

Why This is Happening:

The waters off Texas are closed to shrimp fishing annually to allow brown shrimp to reach a larger and more valuable size prior to harvest, and to prevent waste of brown shrimp that might otherwise be discarded because of their small size.
The fishery closed May 15, 2021.
The re-opening date for Texas waters is based on the results of biological sampling by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and assessment of maximum tidal durations.
In addition, Texas regulations only allow a 60-day closure; the 60 day period expires July 15, 2021.

Read the full release here

Gulf Shrimp Fishery to Re-Open Off Texas on July 15, 2020

July 10, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

WHAT/WHEN:

NOAA Fisheries announces federal waters from 9 to 200 nautical miles off Texas will open to shrimp trawling beginning 30 minutes after official sunset, local time, on July 15, 2020, corresponding to the time Texas opens its waters to shrimp trawling.

WHY THIS IS HAPPENING:

The waters off Texas are closed to shrimp fishing annually to allow brown shrimp to reach a larger and more valuable size prior to harvest, and to prevent waste of brown shrimp that might otherwise be discarded because of their small size.
The fishery closed May 15, 2020.
The re-opening date for Texas waters is based on the results of biological sampling by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.
In addition, Texas regulations only allow a 60-day closure; the 60 day period expires July 15, 2020.

Read the full release here

The World is Your Sustainable, Traceable Oyster

December 19, 2019 — The following was released by the Marine Stewardship Council:

Prestige Oyster Texas and Louisiana private oyster fishery achieved MSC certification today, marking a first for a wild oyster fishery in the Americas to achieve certification. The certification comes following a rigorous 10-month assessment carried out by independent, third party assessor MRAG Americas, to ensure the fishery meets the MSC fisheries standard, including ensuring sustainable fish stocks; minimizing environmental impact, and ensuring there are responsive management systems in place. MSC certification recognizes and rewards sustainable fishing practices and is helping create a more sustainable seafood market.

“Oysters play an integral part in a healthy ocean environment, so having an oyster fishery committed to the long term health of the wild oyster population by gaining MSC certification is a win for a healthy ocean,” said Brian Perkins, MSC Regional Director, Americas. “This is especially timely given the threats facing the ocean from climate change. Congratulations to Prestige Oysters on this achievement.”

“Prestige is proud to lead the industry in sustainable oyster harvesting. MSC certification is a testament to our fishery, for the past two years we have gone up against the rigorous standards of the MSC and to be the first certified oyster fishery in the Americas is an immensely proud feeling. I want to thank both Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries for their assistance through this process. A special thank you to Laura Picariello at Texas SeaGrant for her guidance and commitment to this project. Certification would not have been possible without the dedicated, hardworking men and women of these institutions. Sustainable harvesting has always been at the core of my company, and now with MSC certification, consumers can trust that Prestige Oysters are harvested in the most sustainable practices. Over the past decade, we have seen initiatives from foodservice to retail customers to source MSC certified seafood, and I excited to offer that demand.”

The American cupped oyster (Crassostrea virginica) are wild oysters native to Texas and Louisiana and are harvested by boat dredges on private leases. Private leases may contain oyster reefs that are either natural or constructed from deposition of cultch (oyster shell, limestone, concrete, etc.) placed on soft bottom in suitable depths for oyster growth. Without additional cultch or natural growth of oysters that provides dead shell, the reefs would disappear over time, leaving little impact on the marine environment.

Oysters play an important role in the marine ecosystem, as both a habitat for a variety of sessile plants and animals and free-swimming fish and shellfish, and as filter feeder because they feed upon phytoplankton (algae)i. The Texas and Louisiana Oyster fishery is certified through 2024 and can enter reassessment after the five year period. During the five-year certification, the fishery must undergo annual surveillance audits in order to ensure their ongoing compliance with the MSC requirements.

The MSC standard was established in 1997 and is the only wild caught seafood standard and ecolabeling program to meet United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (UNFAO) guidelines as well as meet Global Sustainable Seafood Initiative (GSSI) benchmarking criteria. The standards used to evaluate fisheries have been developed in deliberation with scientists, industry, and conservation groups, and reflect the most up-to-date fisheries science and management practices.

The MSC fishery standards are based on three core principles that every fishery must meet:

Sustainable fish stocks: Fishing activity must be at a level which ensures it can continue indefinitely.
Minimizing environmental impact: Fishing operations must be managed to maintain the structure, productivity, function, and diversity of the ecosystem.
Effective Management: The fishery must comply with relevant laws and have a management system that is responsive to changing circumstances.

Gulf shrimp season closing Wednesday

May 8, 2019 — The Gulf of Mexico commercial shrimp season for both Texas and federal waters will close 30 minutes after sunset on Wednesday, May 15, 2019, until a still-to-be-determined date in July.

The closing date is based on samples collected by the Coastal Fisheries Division of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) using trawl, bag seine, and other information gathered from the shrimping industry.

Data collected regarding TPWD bag seine catch rates of brown shrimp, mean lengths of shrimp in April 2019, percent of samples containing shrimp, and periods of maximum nocturnal ebb tidal flow indicate a May 15 closing date is appropriate. Typically, once the shrimp reach about 3½ inches long, they begin their migration to the gulf.

Read the full story at the Victoria Advocate

Suppliers Challenge Texas Law Targeting Shark Sales

February 20, 2019 — Sharks caught in U.S. waters are dressed in short order, fins are removed and carcasses are packed in trucks bound for Mexico. But an unconstitutional Texas law mandating sharks remain intact has cut off the Mexican market, shark-meat purveyors claim in a federal lawsuit.

Texas-based Ochoa Seafood Enterprises Inc. says in the complaint filed Tuesday in Houston federal court that its business depends on shark meat.

It gets 60 percent of its income from buying the meat from dealers in Louisiana, Florida and North Carolina and shipping all of it in refrigerated trucks through Texas to clients in Mexico City, where it’s filleted and put on grocery store shelves and restaurant menus.

But the company hit a snag last July when a Texas Parks and Wildlife Department agent contacted its owner and said an inspection of its refrigerated truck at the Mexico border had revealed it was shipping shark carcasses with the fins and tails removed in violation of Texas law.

Joined by its shark-meat supplier, Louisiana-based Venice Seafood LLC, and the trade group Sustainable Shark Alliance, Ochoa Seafood sued Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Executive Director Carter Smith.

Read the full story at the Courthouse News Service

Texas Red Snapper Season Extended to 82 Days, Longest Since 2007

April 19, 2018 — After more than two decades of seeing opportunities to catch and retain red snapper from federally controlled waters of the Gulf of Mexico increasingly restricted even as the popular reef fishes’ once-struggling population soared, Texas’ long-suffering offshore recreational anglers this week saw that pendulum swing slightly but significantly the other direction.

In the wake of Monday’s federal approval of a two-year experimental program granting states bordering the Gulf of Mexico partial authority for managing and monitoring harvest of red snapper waters off their coasts, Texas fisheries officials announced they project an 82-day season during which anglers who fish from privately owned vessels will be able to take their two-fish daily limit of snapper from federally controlled waters.

That 82-day season, set to open June 1, is almost double 2017’s 43-day federal-water season for private-boat anglers, nearly eight times 2016’s 11-day season and the longest since a 194-day season in 2007.

“We believe this is a positive move that will benefit our anglers with more opportunity, benefit the resource and allow us to demonstrate that the states can very effectively manage this fishery,” Lance Robinson, deputy director of coastal fisheries for Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, said of the two-year shift to each state setting snapper season lengths and dates for private-boat anglers. Previously, federal officials set a single season length and dates for the entire Gulf under federal authority.

Read the full story at the Houston Chronicle

Gulf shrimp season ends Monday

May 11, 2016 — The Gulf of Mexico commercial shrimp season for both Texas and federal waters ends 30 minutes after sunset Monday, May 15.

The closure happens every year and typically will go until July 15, although the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department have discretion in setting the reopening date based on sound biological data.

The data includes mean lengths of the shrimp and percent of shrimp in samples caught using a bag seine as well as ebb tidal flow.

The Texas closure applies to Gulf waters from the coast out 9 nautical miles.

The National Marine Fisheries Service has announced federal waters out to 200 nautical miles also will be closed to shrimping to conform to the Texas closure.

This year, officials hope the closure will give brown shrimp, which dominate the spring season, time to grow to 112 millimeters in length.

They were measured at 55 millimeters in length in April, said Mark Fisher, science director at the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.

The average catch this season was 1,235 shrimp per hectare. One hectare is 2.47 acres. This is below the 20-year average of 1,319 shrimp per hectare.

Fisher said shrimp are less valuable today than they were 20 years ago.

“Shrimp prices are low because the market is dominated by imported, farm-raised shrimp.

Read the full article at the Victoria Advocate

As season closes, Texas shrimp industry battles hostile trends

May 18, 2016 — The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s Coastal Fisheries Division decided May 15 was a good time to close the state’s shrimp season because, according to its sampling, the average size and number of brown shrimp in Texas coastal waters is higher than the 20-year average.

Texas closes its waters to shrimping from the coast to nine nautical miles out for roughly two months each year to give little shrimp time to grow before being harvested. The National Marine Fisheries Service typically imposes a closure out to 200 nautical miles at the same time.

More, bigger shrimp is potentially good news for the state’s struggling shrimp industry, since big shrimp fetch higher prices, according to Andrea Hance, shrimp fleet owner and executive director of the Texas Shrimp Association.

Read the full story at the Valley Morning Star

Red Snapper Continues Dominance at Galveston Gulf Council Meeting

October 26, 2015 — Regional management of the Gulf red snapper fishery continued to be a hot topic during the last Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council of 2015 held at the Hilton Galveston Island hotel. While the council also addressed important fishery issues concerning gag, black grouper, and shrimp, Gulf red snapper remained the biggest issue to dominate the Council’s time.

The Council continued discussions on Reef Fish Amendment 39 which would divide the recreational red snapper quota among regions to allow for the creation of different management measures better suited for each area. If enacted, the Council has selected to sunset the action five years after implementation. Currently, the Council has selected a preferred alternative that would sunset the action five years after implementation.

Charter boats across the Gulf of Mexico carry nearly 1.5 million recreational anglers from across the country and around the world on yearly fishing trips. Under the current federal management system, the Gulf federally-permitted charter fleet has a guaranteed allocation of red snapper for customers. Regional management would allow each Gulf state to manage red snapper in predetermined zones corresponding to each state’s land boundaries. Each state would have its own allocation of red snapper, as well as the ability to set fishing season lengths and daily bag limits. Under the current federal management system the federally permitted for-hire fleet and the private angling component have separate red sanpper allocations. Amendment 39 also considers whether to extend or end this separate management of the private angling and federally permitted for-hire components.

“The topic of the day was definitely the controversial red snapper regional management plan,” said Captain Shane Cantrell, Executive Director of the Charter Fisherman’s Association. “The federally permitted charter fleet continues to make it known to the Gulf Council that they do not want to be included in Amendment 39. This was demonstrated again in Galveston during several hours of public comment requesting that the federally permitted charter fleet and private anglers have the opportunity to develop independent management that suits their respective needs.”

On the second day of meetings, Robin Riechers the Director of Coastal Fisheries for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, stated during hearings that Texas federally permitted charter-for-hire captains were in favor of being included in the snapper regional management plan. The following day more than 50 Texas charter operators, a majority of the state’s industry, descended upon the Council voicing their strong opposition to being included stating that Riechers misspoke about their support for the plan.

Read the full story at the Gulf Seafood Institute