Passport to Texas

Texas Game Wardens are cracking down illegal fish trade in markets after nearly 20 area fish markets and restaurants were cited for buying illegal seafood. Image: KTRK

Crack Down on Illegal Fish Trade Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This is Passport to Texas

Houston has a dynamic culinary scene, where seafood is on the menu. In April, Texas Game Wardens wrapped up a two-year covert operation by issuing more than 150 citations to fish markets and restaurants in the Houston area that illegally purchased game fish from undercover officers.

Over the two year period, we approached approximately 40 businesses in the Houston area—restaurants and markets. And I think the final number was 19 purchased from us. So, about 50% purchased.

Captain Josh Koenig oversees the Game Warden’s Special Ops Criminal Investigations Division. During the two-year operation, wardens in plain clothes offered to sell more than a dozen different Texas saltwater species to seafood markets and restaurants along the upper Texas coast.

The black market fish market is definitely a global issue. The legal folks who are doing everything correct, it could put a damper on them; these illegal fish can change the market, and affect you then when you in turn go to buy fish. So, trying to slow down or stop the black market fish trade is a very high priority.

Wardens received tips from sources identifying businesses known to purchase fish under the table. They began approaching them using product seized from other cases. These covert investigations are ongoing.

That’s our show, brought to you in part by Ram Trucks…built to serve.

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

Milkweed

#POLLINATORWEEK: Milkweed for Monarchs Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This is Passport to Texas

More than seventy species of milkweed have been recorded nationwide; over half of those are native to Texas. Including two that are endemic.

These are species that are found nowhere else but within the Texas border. One of them is called Texas Milkweed, which is found in canyons in Central Texas. And then we have a species called Coastal Milkweed that occurs roughly from the Houston area to just north of Brownsville.

Jason Singhurst, a botanist with Texas Parks and Wildlife, says milkweeds provide sustenance to the a delightful pollinator—the iconic monarch butterfly—during its migration.

So, here in Texas, we know certain species like green milkweed, antelope horns, broadleaf milkweed, and zizotes are some of our most abundant species that we’re seeing monarch larvae and adults visit.

Because milkweed species vary, do monarchs use each species in the same or different ways?

That’s a really good question. That’s something we’re trying to figure out in Texas. And that’s why we started this mapping project called Texas Milkweeds and Monarchs project—using iNaturalist. It’s an app that you can download on your smartphone. We’re using that project to help us identify different species of milkweeds across the state, and then also which species that larvae, or adult monarch butterflies are visiting.

Find a link to the Milkweeds and Monarchs project on iNaturalist at passporttotexas.org.

The Wildlife Restoration program supports our series.

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

Texas Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame 2017 Honoree: Gulf States Toyota.

TPW TV--Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This is Passport to Texas

The Texas Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame honors individuals and organizations for their contributions to the sport. Gulf States Toyota is one such inductee.

Gulf States Toyota joined with Texas Parks and Wildlife Department in a private-public partnership to create the Toyota Texas Bass Classic, and also with the Toyota ShareLunker program.

Dave Terre, Texas Parks and Wildlife chief of fish management and research, says Gulf States Toyota, has been a boon to bass fishing…and not just in Texas.

The Toyota Texas bass Classic has been huge for Texas Parks and Wildlife. It’s provided us an opportunity to engage millions of people into fishing—all across Texas, and really across the United States of America.

The Guld State’s support helped double the neighborhood fishin’ lakes in Texas, thus making fishing accessible to more families in the urban core. And its long-term involvement in the ShareLunker program, is legend.

Gulf States Toyota supported the Sharelunker program since 2009. It’s really putting us on a path to create cutting edge science. It’s allowed us to be able to track these fish through DNA.

Gulf States Toyota is in the spotlight next week on the Texas Parks and Wildlife TV series on PBS. Check your local listings.

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

A dad and his son jetty fishing at sunrise.

Get Dad Outdoors on Fathers Day Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This is Passport to Texas

My father was not what you’d call an outdoorsy guy, but I do have some outdoor memories of him.

I remember Dad took us kids to the nearby forest preserve and taught us how to ride bikes. We had room to wobble and wipe out on the trails until we became proficient thanks to his encouragement. And once we could stay upright, he’d find a shady place to sit; he wore a big smile as he watched us zip around with abandon.

Or in summer when my mom had to work late, dad would have us kids pack up some food while he put a couple of bikes in the back of the station wagon. He’d take us to our local state park for an evening picnic that always ended with us chasing lightening bugs at dusk.

These are small moments with my father that I cherish. My dad’s gone now, but if yours is still with you, perhaps this Father’s Day—June 17—you can share the magic of the outdoors with him.

Take your dad to a Texas state park for a picnic, or a day of biking, hiking or paddling. Maybe you can do an overnight campout, or just hang out on the bank of a lake with a line in the water, and enjoy one another’s company. If you are a dad—spend time with the kiddos outside.

The great Texas outdoors and father’s day equal sweet memories.

That’s our show…. brought to you in part by Ram trucks: built to serve.

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

The calm before the storm?

TPW Magazine--Texas Water Safari Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This is Passport to Texas

This Saturday, June 9th, the 56th Annual Texas Water Safari gets underway. Known as the World’s Toughest Canoe Race, individuals and teams of paddlers endure the grueling non-stop, 262 mile trip from San Marcos to Seadrift.

Read a nail-biting account of the trek written by adventurer, Russell Roe, for the June issue of Texas Parks and Wildlife magazine. It’s another installment of the magazine’s year of Epic Texas Adventures.

Roe captures the spirit of the event as he follows novices and seasoned veterans alike, as they wipe out at rapids and lose all their gear, negotiate log jams, suffer blazing heat, oppressive humidity, the indignity of biting insects.

These intrepid souls paddle on, despite the dark of night, losing their way, and the weight of exhaustion that descends on them all. Paddlers have a 100 hour time frame to reach their destination.

What’s even more remarkable is there’s no big cash prize at the end of the race. Just memories and bragging rights. Talk about an epic adventure.

Read this thrilling story called Epic Texas Challenge — Texas Water Safari by Russell Roe in the June issue of Texas Parks and Wildlife magazine. On Newsstands now.

That’s our show…. brought to you in part by Ram trucks: built to serve.

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