Passport to Texas

TEXAS CITY Y OIL SPILL RESPONSE TEAM GROUP PHOTO

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On March 22nd, 2014 two vessels collided in the Houston ship channel. And that’s when the TPW Oil Spill Response team sprang to action.

[Winston Denton] There was a timing issue with an incoming inbound ship and a barge and tug crossing the channel.

[Steven Mitchell] The crew members started reporting that they had oil leaking from the barge.

[Rebbecca Hensley] We had about 170,000 gallons of fuel that was spilled into the ship channel.

[Don Pitts] Any large spill like this, we get notified by the Coast Guard or the General Land Office to come and assist in the role of Natural Resource Advisors.

[Heather Biggs] Since it was a large event, we did pull people from Austin, from Corpus, even down from Brownsville we had folks coming in to help us.

[Angela Schrift] We coordinated, figured out what we’d need. Got the materials together and got down to the coast as soon as we could.

Meet the team, and find out what happened next, when you view their story next week on the Texas Parks and Wildlife TV Series on PBS.

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

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Derelict crab traps collected from Chocolate Bayou.

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This is Passport to Texas

Lost and abandoned crab traps become hazards to marine life in Texas bays.

We are particularly concerned because of the ghost fishing effects; they continue fishing unmaintained.

When something gets in the trap and dies, it acts as bait, attracting more marine life, which in turn suffers the same fate. Art Morris coordinated the annual cleanup of derelict traps during his time with Texas Parks and Wildlife.

And what we do once a year in February, is get volunteers together up and down the coast, and we try to remove all those traps that have been lost, or vandalized or whatever that are potentially ghost fishing.

Volunteers have removed more than 31-thousand traps in the cleanup’s 15 year history. The cleanup traditionally starts on the third Friday of February and continues for 10 days.

We don’t have any kind of salvage laws in Texas, and once you put out a trap—it’s your property and nobody is supposed to touch that. So, in order to get to these derelict traps, we have a legislative, mandated closure.

This mandate gives citizens permission to remove derelict traps from their favorite fishing holes during that 10-day period. Find details volunteering for this year’s cleanup on the Texas Parks and Wildlife website.

The Sport Fish Restoration Program supports our series.

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

Flounder. Photo credit: Kendal Larson

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Brian Treadway fishes for flounder in Chocolate Bayou in West Galveston Bay.

Chocolate Bayou is an excellent spot for flounder. We have one of the shallowest bays in all the coast. And really and truly, we have the absolute best place to fish in the world right in our own backyard.

Southern flounder accounts for more than 95 percent of the flounder harvest in Texas. Sampling surveys indicate while populations of redfish and spotted sea trout are strong, southern flounder’s in decline.

We’ve had a slow, but steady, decrease in flounder populations throughout the coast of Texas. It’s been worse in some bays than it has in others. But, it’s just been a slow decline.

David Abrego with the Sea Center Texas Fish Hatchery, says data suggests issues affecting southern flounder decline include a lower number of females, overfishing and loss due to shrimp bycatch. Coastal fish hatcheries use brood stock to produce thousands of small flounder that will eventually go back into the bays.

If we’re able to stock fish into areas that are needed. Then, that is just another additional tool that can help the population recover.

Find bag limits and other regulations for fishing for flounder and other species on the Texas parks and Wildlife website.

The Sport Fish Restoration Program supports our series through your purchases of fishing equipment, and motorboat fuels.

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

Wade fishing at Goose Island SP

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This is Passport to Texas

With eight bay systems to choose from, and almost 400 miles of beach or bay access, wade fishing opportunities in Texas are vast.

We’re fishing the Upper Laguna Madre today, just south of Corpus Christi.

Before he retired from Texas Parks and Wildlife last year, Art Morris worked in Coastal fisheries, and one of his jobs was to generate interest in wade fishing.

[Corpus Christi Bay] is one of the premier bays on the Texas coast to wade fish. It’s got miles and miles of shallow grass flats, with an average depth of three feet. There’s tons of opportunities for wade fishermen to come down here and try their luck.

Minimal gear, bait and a good location are all you need for wade fishing. The location Nick Meyers prefers is North Padres Island National Seashore, with 65 miles of undeveloped beach and surf.

The beauty of this beach is, you’ve got such a variety of fish as you go through the seasons. From the pompano as in the fall and winter. Trout. Redfish. Jackfish. There’s everything in this water. It’s more than likely the most fertile bit of water you can get.

Find other wade fishing opportunities along the Texas coast on the Texas Parks and Wildlife website.

The Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program supports our series. Through your purchases of hunting and fishing equipment, and motorboat fuels, over 40 million dollars in conservation efforts are funded in Texas each year.

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

His first fish at Lake Arrowhead.

Borrowing Tackle via the Tackle Loaner Program Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This is Passport to Texas

It’s winter, but that doesn’t mean you can’t go fishing. In fact, winter is the only time Texas Parks and Wildlife stocks rainbow trout. Plus, when you fish at Texas State Parks, fishing is free. You’re new to angling and don’t have tackle? No problem.

Many of our state parks that have water for fishing, have fishing poles that people can borrow.

Caleb Harris is an aquatic education training specialist. He says it’s easy to borrow rods, reels and tackle boxes with hooks, sinkers and bobbers.

 [Just] sign a paper that says they’ll bring the fishing poles back, and they can borrow the fishing poles for up to a week, sometimes, as they’re camping in the park. Or, if they just come for the day, they can borrow them and return them back to the park.

You are responsible for your own bait, but I hear rainbow trout bite on most anything; so load your hook with pieces of your picnic lunch. Nothing is easier than fishing for free in state parks with borrowed tackle.

 If people are interested in getting into fishing, we try to make that accessible as much as possible.

Find state parks with fishing opportunities, tackle loaner programs, and fishing classes when you log onto the Texas Parks and Wildlife website.

This project and our show were funded in part by a grant from the Sport Fish Restoration Program.

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