variety of fronts has led Texas Parks and Wildlife Department
biologists to recommend several possible changes to next year’s hunting
and fishing regulations. Among the topics being considered include: an
expansion of special regulations affecting the harvest of whitetail
bucks based on antler characteristics, creation of an upland game bird
management permit program and elimination of the trophy red drum and
tarpon tagging requirements.
– Lake Mohave
TPWD staff briefed the Regulations Committee of the Texas Parks and
Wildlife Commission Wednesday, Nov. 2, on a slate of possible changes
designed to increase recreational opportunity and further enhance the
state’s fish and wildlife resources.
The annual regulatory review process begins each fall after resource
assessments by biologists and game wardens, as well as independent
recommendations received from various groups. During this scoping
portion of the process, TPWD gathers public input and weighs the
biological implications of each issue before presenting the commission
with a set of proposed regulation changes in January. Additional
discourse is sought during special public meetings in the spring, and
the commission at its April 2006 meeting determines the final
regulation changes.
Following is a summary of those potential changes.
Potential Wildlife Regulation Proposals
White-tailed Deer
Expansion of antler restriction harvest rules in all or portions of
40 additional counties in East and Central Texas. The rules are
currently in place in 21 southeastern counties. The purpose of this
potential proposal is to ensure a balanced age class structure for a
healthy deer herd by shifting harvest pressure away from young bucks,
which typically comprise upwards of 60 percent of the annual harvest.
Under this regulation, a legal buck is one which has (1) at least 1
unbranched antler, or (2) an inside spread measurement of 13 inches or
greater. Under the suggested provisions, the candidate counties would
see an increase in the buck bag limit from one to two; however, no more
than one buck may have an inside spread measurement of 13 plus inches.
The candidate counties are: Bell, Bosque, Bowie, Burleson, Camp, Cass,
Cherokee, Comal (east of Interstate 35), Comanche, Coryell, Delta,
Eastland, Erath, Fannin, Franklin, Gregg, Hamilton, Harrison, Hays
(east of Interstate 35), Hopkins, Houston, Lamar, Lampasas, Leon,
Marion, Morris, Nacogdoches, Panola, Rains, Red River, Rusk, Sabine,
San Augustine, Shelby, Somervell, Titus, Travis (east of Interstate
35), Upshur, Williamson, and Wood.
TPWD is also looking into standardizing harvest regulations in Upton
County, which currently has split regulations, to four deer, no more
than two bucks, and no antlerless permit required
Upland Game Birds
Expansion of the successful Managed Lands Deer Permit program to
include similar provisions for adjusting season length and/or bag
limits for upland game bird species, including quail, turkey, pheasant,
chachalaca and lesser prairie chickens on properties with a wildlife
management plan where certain habitat management practices are
implemented.
Alligator
Include regulations governing the recreational take of alligator in the Statewide Hunting and Fishing Proclamation.
Potential Freshwater Fishing Regulation Changes
Lake Colorado City (Mitchell County)
Change harvest regulations for red drum from the current 20-inch
minimum length limit and three fish daily bag limit to no length and no
bag limit.
Mountain Creek Lake (Dallas County)
All fish species in Mountain Creek Lake are managed under statewide
length and bag limits. The regulations would be changed to
catch-and-release only for all species.
Marine Creek Reservoir (Tarrant County)
Current harvest regulations for largemouth bass consist of statewide
14-inch minimum length limit with a five fish daily bag limit. The
regulation would be changed to an 18-inch minimum length limit. The
five fish daily bag would be retained.
Statewide baitfish exceptions
Add Kinney County to current list of bait fish exceptions. Current
regulations are: “In Brewster, Crane, Crockett, Culberson, Ector, El
Paso, Jeff Davis, Hudspeth, Loving, Pecos, Presidio, Reeves, Terrell,
Upton, Val Verde, Ward, and Winkler counties, the only fishes that may
be used or possessed for bait while fishing are common carp, fathead
minnows, gizzard and threadfin shad, golden shiners, goldfish, Mexican
tetra, Rio Grande cichlid, silversides (Atherinidae family), and
sunfish (Lepomis).”
Catfish
TPWD will be seeking public input on the possibility of making bowfishing a legal means of take for catfish.
Potential Coastal Fishing Regulation Proposals
Largetooth sawfish (Pristis perotteti)
The National Marine Fisheries and the U. S. Fish and Wildlife
Service have listed the smalltooth sawfish as endangered and,
therefore, it is now endangered in Texas under PWC Chapter 68. Because
of the extreme difficulty that anglers will have in distinguishing the
smalltooth sawfish from the largetooth sawfish, protection of both is
believed to be the only way to protect the listed species. This
proposal would prohibit the taking of both.
Red Drum
TPWD will scope two proposals to eliminate the red drum tags. Either
option would continue to ensure protection of red drum in Texas and
provide the benefits of having the tags without the administrative
issues of maintaining tags in the license system. The options presented
are:
- One red drum larger than 28 inches may be taken as part of the 3 fish daily bag limit.
- One red drum larger than 28 inches may be taken in addition to the 3 fish daily bag limit
Tarpon
A potential proposal to eliminate the trophy tarpon tag and
implement a bag limit of one fish with a minimum size limit that
corresponds to the state record. This will allow fishermen to continue
to challenge that record while preventing the retention of any other
tarpon that may be caught.
Black Drum
TPWD also will scope a proposal similar to the tarpon recommendation
of one fish above a maximum size limit (i.e., set at the state record)
for black drum.
Southern Flounder
Changing the possession limit on flounder so that it is equal to the
bag limit for the recreational fishery. This is already the case in the
commercial fishery. This will create some redistribution of the current
catches in the recreational fishery and basically limit a person to 10
fish per trip instead of the 20 fish bag they can keep if they fish
past midnight now. Part of the rationale is that since flounder
mortality from the recreational and commercial harvest makes up only 18
percent of its mortality, changes in the directed fishery will not have
a large impacts to the overall population. Current trends in the
fishery suggest that recent emphasis on shrimping effort and bycatch
are starting to show signs that the flounder fishery is improving.
Tripletail (Lobotes surinamensis)
TPWD will scope a proposal to list tripletail as a game fish, place
a minimum size limit of 17 inches and a 3 fish bag limit. Alabama has a
17-inch minimum * and bag limit of three and Florida has a 15-inch limit and bag limit of two.
In addition to these potential
proposals, TPWD is looking at the
possibility of increasing the fee for hunter education courses from $10
to $15. The increase would enable the agency to recruit more hunter
education instructors and thereby provide more convenience through
additional class offerings and related enhancements to the program.
Public comment about these issues and others of interest may be made
to TPWD, Regulatory Proposals Public Comment, 4200 Smith School Road,
78744, by phoning 800-792-1112 or by visiting the Web
(http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/)
– Lake Mohave
