Passport to Texas

This is Passport to Texas

Evolution bypassed the alligator gar. Compare today’s gar to the fossil record, and the differences are insignificant.

They’re often perceived as this very primitive, horrible fish that is kind of scary looking. So people, for that reason, have some fear of them.

David Buckmeier, a fisheries scientist for parks and wildlife, says this coastal river-dwelling freshwater fish is actually quite docile despite appearances.

The alligator gar is the largest freshwater fish in Texas, and can grow up to ten feet long and have the potential of tipping the scales at over three hundred pounds.

They have a head shaped much like that of an alligator, hence the name. They are quite primitive; they have heavy bony scales all across their body, which are called ganoid scales. And it’s actual bone plates that protect that fish.

A behavior that some find unnerving is the gar’s tendency to linger at the water’s surface.

Their gills aren’t advanced enough to get enough oxygen, especially when the water temperatures are warm. So, that’s why people will frequently see them at the top of the water; they’ll come up, gulp air then and go back down.

So maybe, it’s not that their gills aren’t advanced enough, maybe they are evolving and they’re going to be crawling on the land soon.

(laughs) Unlikely. They’ve been around for a long, long time, and they’ve been the same way.

Alligator gar is abundant in Texas, and is a sought after sport fish. More on that tomorrow.

The Sport Fish and Wildlife Restoration Program supports our series…For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

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Passport to Texas from Texas parks and Wildlife and the Sport Fish Restoration Program

Everyone likes a little praise now and then. And anglers—young or old—get it when they submit details of their catch to the Angler Recognition Program.

Everybody gets something. If it qualifies for no records or awards at all, you’ll get an outstanding angler certificate which is frameable. And all children get some type of pin; an angler recognition pin that’s our logo.

Joedy Gray oversees the program, and says he especially wants see kids getting involved.

I’m trying to encourage youth to get out there. A lot of kids will catch their first fish—maybe a two or three inch sunfish—and if they weigh that on certified scales, it will be water body record in a lot of instances.

If you’re going for a water body record, you will need a certified scale, but not if you’re submitting your fish for a catch/release total length record.

So that way you don’t need to weigh it. You just need to take a picture of the fish next to a tape measure. Then turn the fish loose and it will be eligible for a state record or a water body record. That opens all the bay systems up, and that opens up all the reservoirs to possibilities of records for both adults and juniors.

Find everything you could possibly need to know about the Angler Recognition Program on the Texas Parks and Wildlife website.

That’s our show… The SF Restoration program supports our series…For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

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Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife and the Sport Fish Restoration Program

Anglers the world over know they can reel in really big bass in Texas.

We have more big bass caught in Texas than anywhere I know of. I’m talking about anywhere in the United States or anywhere in the world.

David Campbell coordinates a bass spawning program at Parks and Wildlife, called the Toyota Sharelunker program.

I know there’s been some bigger fish caught in California, Florida—but it’s the numbers of big fish. And the anglers can go to almost any reservoir in the state of Texas and have the potential of catching a thirteen pound plus large-mouth bass. I don’t think that Anyone else can come close to that.

Now through April, anglers that reel in largemouth bass weighing 13-pounds or more are encouraged to donate them to the Toyota ShareLunker program. The donated bass enter into a spawning program, with the hope of creating bigger bass—maybe even a world record.

We had somewhere in the neighborhood of three quarter of a million fry from the sharelunkers through the years. We’ve had some years we didn’t have any spawn. Then some years we might have five, six or seven spawn.

That’s a whole lot of potential. Find information about the Toyota Sharelunker program when you log onto the Texas Parks and Wildlife Website.

That’s our show for today…with support from the Sport Fish Restoration Program…providing funding for the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center in Athens…

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti

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Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife and the Sport Fish and Wildlife Restoration Program

Dijar Lutz-Carrillo (DEE-har luhtz—kah-REE-oh) is a geneticist at the A.E. Wood Laboratory in San Marcos.

And we do everything genetics related for Inland Fisheries.

Lutz-Carrillo says geneticists help to answer questions biologists might have about freshwater fish. Some of the questions currently being posed involve DNA “fingerprinting” of largemouth bass.

In terms of the DNA fingerprinting, the questions they’re specifically asking are: is this fish from this reservoir produced in the wild, or produced at the hatchery? And if it’s produced at the hatchery is it with the OWR program—or Operation World Record—and if it’s from that program, who are its parents in that program? So, you’re asking the question who’s your daddy? Yeah, that’s the question (laughs). And your mommy.

Largemouth bass top the list of popular freshwater sport fish…and Parks and Wildlife is attempting to produce world record bass using genetic testing and selective breeding. Loraine Fries (Fr-EYE-Z) is lab manager,

It’s all related to fisheries management and our interest in having the best fishing in the world here in Texas.

We’ll have more on this topic tomorrow.

That’s our show…supported by a grant from the Sport Fish and Wildlife Restoration Program… working to increase fishing, hunting, shooting and boating opportunities in Texas.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

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Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

When you hear the word tilapia, you may think of a savory meal with lemon butter sauce, but you probably don’t think of the term “invasive species.”

The tilapia are great to eat. They’re raised as a food fish, and they’re quite tasty. They’re quite popular in restaurants. But the problem is when they’re in our natural waters they are upsetting the ecosystem.

Tilapia have been in Texas for decades. They were originally brought in as a food source to be raised in fish farms, but eventually made they’re way into Texas waters.

Gary Garrett, a Texas Parks and Wildlife fisheries biologist, says tilapia can be a threat to large mouth bass and other native species.

They build big pit nests and in doing that they stir up a lot of the settlement. And it’s been shown, for example, with large mouth bass, all that sediment stirred up and settling back down will often kill large mouth bass eggs.

When tilapia do this, they can potentially damage the entire ecosystem because of the intricate food chain.

Texas Parks and Wildlife does have state regulations for tilapia, but because tilapia are found all over the state, they are difficult to control. But if you like to fish, Garrett says you can help.

Don’t throw them back. If you catch them, keep them.

So next time you catch a tilapia, turn on the grill and get cooking. You’ll be doing yourself and the Texas ecosystem a favor.

That’s our show…with research and writing help from Gretchen Mahan. For Texas Parks and Wildlife, I’m Cecilia Nasti.

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