Passport to Texas

Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

The mystery of the tarpon is a story you’ll see this month on the Texas Parks and Wildlife television series– writer/producer Ron Kabele.

The funny thing about a lot of young anglers is, there’s so few tarpon left in the gulf of Mexico that a lot of them don’t even know what a tarpon looks like. But, it’s a big silver fish; when I say big, I mean ninety to two hundred and fifty pounds.

The producer who did the story went out a number of times—they never saw a tarpon. They’re really hard to catch now because there aren’t that many left. One of the biologists said, in the course of the story, that they didn’t want to happen to the tarpon to what happened to say the Attwater’s prairie chicken, where the population gets just so low that bringing the species back would be virtually impossible. And that’s what they’re trying to circumvent with this research.

The series airs on PBS stations statewide.

That’s our show for today… For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

TP&W TV May Feature: Mystery of the Tarpon Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

The mystery of the tarpon is a story you’ll see this month on the Texas Parks and Wildlife television series– writer/producer Ron Kabele.

The funny thing about a lot of young anglers is, there’s so few tarpon left in the gulf of Mexico that a lot of them don’t even know what a tarpon looks like. But, it’s a big silver fish; when I say big, I mean ninety to two hundred and fifty pounds.

The producer who did the story went out a number of times—they never saw a tarpon. They’re really hard to catch now because there aren’t that many left. One of the biologists said, in the course of the story, that they didn’t want to happen to the tarpon to what happened to say the Attwater’s prairie chicken, where the population gets just so low that bringing the species back would be virtually impossible. And that’s what they’re trying to circumvent with this research.

The series airs on PBS stations statewide.

That’s our show for today… For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

TP&W TV May Feature: Mystery of the Tarpon Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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

Saltwater anglers with an eye toward improving coastal fisheries should know about the upcoming Coastal Fisheries Bay Team Tournaments to catch spotted sea trout.

We’ve got two tournaments coming up down south, over in the Rio Grande Valley area. One of them is going to be on April the fifth over on South Padre island, and will be taking place at Sea Ranch Marina. And then we have the second one on April the twelfth in Port Mansfield and that will be off the north boat ramp.

Robert Adami coordinates the free tournaments in which sixty total anglers catch fish and vie for prizes.

The tournament is absolutely free, but all participants must be 21 and up, because it’s sponsored by Anheuser Busch. At each of the tournaments, we’ll start registration at 6 a.m. We’ll start collecting fish from that point on; we’ll stop at 12-noon, and shortly after lunchtime I’ll be handing out the prizes.

Participating anglers donate their catch to a breeding program, where fisheries biologist will “mix up” the genetics.

You don’t want to have the same parents along with the same siblings year after year. The fish are going to be going back into the bay system that they came from, but you also want to be mixing up the genetics in the bay system as you go along. And that’s just a good practice for any hatchery.

Find information about the tournaments and prizes at passporttotexas.org.

That’s our show…with support from the Sport Fish and Wildlife Restoration program…supporting genetics research at Texas hatcheries…For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

Coastal Fisheries Bay Team Tournament, 2 of 2 Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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

The Coastal Fisheries Bay Team Tournament is looking for a few good anglers.

We are getting together with the community, and we’re collecting fish for our hatchery program. So, these guys are out there catching fish, and they are vying for prizes.

Robert Adami coordinates the tournaments, which take On April 5, at Sea ranch Marina on South Padre Island, and on April 12, at the north boat ramp at Port Mansfield.

We do this so that we can continuously be bringing in new fish for our hatchery program. One of the reasons we do that is so that we can get some genetic diversity into our spawning biomass of fish that we have on hand. And we always want to mix up the genetics within our hatchery program.

Sixty people, on a first come first serve basis, will get to participate in the tournament to reel in spotted sea trout. I asked Adami why the hatchery wants only sea trout in spring.

One of the reasons is they have peak spawning in springtime. So, we want to try and collect as many new trout as we can and hopefully put them into the spawning biomass that we currently have—and they’re ready to get going.

You must be 21 or older to participate. Find a link to more information about the tournaments and prizes at passporttotexas.org.

That’s our show…with support from the Sport Fish and Wildlife Restoration program…supporting genetics research at Texas hatcheries…For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

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For more information, call Robert Adami, Robert Adami, (361) 939-8745

South Padre Island
April 5, 2008
Sea Ranch Marina

Port Mansfield
April 12, 2008
North Boat Ramp

Coastal Fisheries Bay Team Tournament, 1 of 2 Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

Looking to catch some waves this winter?

The rule of thumb in Texas is, the farther South you go, the nicer the water is and the bigger the waves are.

Rick Thomsen is the chapter chair of the Central Texas Chapter of Surfrider, an environmental organization that raises awareness about ocean related issues through its members’ passion for surfing. We caught up with him in October at Texas Parks and Wildlife EXPO.

We’re always concerned about clean water, so we’re interested in our watersheds. But one of the bigger issues in Texas is access to our beaches because we have some of the highest erosion rates in the United States. So what happens, if there’s irresponsible development and houses are too close to the beach and then the beaches erode – a lot of house s end up actually on the beach and then we have an access issue.

Access is a major concern for Surfrider’s surfer and non-surfer members alike. Luckily…

Texas has one of the strongest beach access laws on the books. It’s the Texas Open Beaches Act. Everybody has access from the low tide line to the mean high tide line and then we actually have an easement up into the grass line.

For more information on beach access and on the SurfRider organization, visit passporttotexas.org.

That’s our show…with research and writing help from Kate Lipinski… For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.
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SurfRider, http://www.surfrider.org/default.aspx

SurfRider: Surfers Making A Differece Play Now | Play in Popup | Download