San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
TPWD approves new regulations for flounder, delays season closure
The Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission approved a six-week closure of southern flounder season set to go into effect in 2021.
Flounder season will be closed from Nov. 1-Dec. 15. The minimum size limit will increase from 14 to 15 inches this year. The commission moved to delay the closure a year in consideration of the potential economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Language will be strengthened in regard to reporting under commercial finfish licenses. The wording will make clear that all harvests are to be reported to TPWD, not just those that are sold.
Commission chairman Reed Morian also asked the department to further examine a potential slot limit.
The hope is to rebuild a fishery that has diminished over decades. TPWD cites biannual gill net and monthly bag seine and trawl net surveys as indications of a negative trend that has plagued flounder for years. As a result of the regulation changes, the department projects a 58 percent increase in spawning biomass over the course of a generation of flounder, which is approximately five years.
The season closure is designed to protect spawning flounder during the fall run, when they are most susceptible to harvest. More escapement during the fall run would bolster recruitment.
“CCA Texas appreciates the commission taking action that considers what is best for the resource while remaining sensitive to impacts that the current pandemic has had on recreational fishing guides,” CCA advocacy director Shane Bonnot said.
“Delaying action on a fall closure allows fishing guides, anglers and businesses supportive of the recreational fishing industry to plan accordingly for the 2021 fishing season. CCA Texas remains committed to supporting efforts that will improve this fishery.”
The increase in the minimum size limit is meant to ensure most female flounder are sexually mature at harvest. It also potentially gives those females another year to spawn. Commercial fisherman attending the meeting were most opposed to the limit change, arguing restaurants have a demand for plate-friendly, 14-inch flounder and commercial harvest from January to early spring would also be severely affected.
The closure during the heart of the fall flounder run will have a negative economic impact on guides who depend on the flatfish for income. Scott Maxwell, a guide who has more than 30 years of experience fishing and gigging in Galveston Bay, strongly disagrees with the closure.
“This will give us time to fight it even more,” Maxwell said of the one-year delay.
A trend of milder winters and resulting warmer water temperatures in the Gulf of Mexico are key to what state biologists consider a new normal for a cold-watered fish that has long been entrenched in coastal culture.
Research by the University of Texas Marine Science Institute indicates flounder larvae are subject to a narrow temperature range necessary for survival. The optimal water temperature for giving flounder a shot at life is 18 degrees Celsius (64.4 degrees Fahrenheit). That temperature is bracketed by a tolerance range of plus or minus 2 degrees Celsius, which does not leave much leeway for the fledgling fish.
The first three weeks of a flounder’s life are crucial to its ability to reach maturity, and it is imperative water temperatures stay within that range.
Research in Texas and North Carolina shows how water temperature could also play a role in determining the sex of the fish in the late stages of metamorphosis.
Texas is not alone in dealing with flounder issues. Fisheries managers and researchers in Louisiana, Alabama and North Carolina are seeing similar trends with long-term population declines.
Along with the rule changes, TPWD hopes hatcheries can improve the situation in the future.
Hatchery managers have produced approximately 115,000 flounder at Sea Center Texas and the Marine Development Center so far in 2020.
In addition to the flounder season, there were many adjustments made that will impact hunters and anglers this year.
Bag limits for Texas duck hunters will remain at six — but with one change. Hunters will be relegated to one scaup per day, down from the three that could be taken last season. Federal framework became more conservative with the species after surveys indicated a population decline. The one-bird bag limit for pintails will remain this season for the same reason.
The bag limit for light geese has been reduced from 20 to 10, with TPWD staff citing a declining trend in the number of light geese wintering along the Texas coast due to habitat changes.
TPWD set season dates for migratory birds in much the same way as recent years, besides a pair of alterations.
Goose seasons in the state’s West Zone will start a week later than in previous years, with dates set for Nov. 14-Feb. 14 for the regular season and Feb. 15-March 14 for the light goose conservation order.
Snipe season will now run Nov. 7-Feb. 21, which is two weeks later than normal. The change was made in response to hunters’ desires for more opportunities after duck season.
Outside of migratory bird hunting changes, TPWD approved open seasons on public lands and hunting dates for state parks. Antlerless mule deer and pronghorn permits were also added to the Land Management Assistance website, which is used to administer the state’s Managed Lands Deer Program.
Changes are coming to several of Texas’ freshwater fishing destinations.
At Moss Lake in Cooke County, the 14-inch minimum length limit for bass has been changed to a 16inch maximum to encourage more harvest. There is an exception for bass 24 inches or longer that can be given to the ShareLunker program.
Regulations at Brushy Creek Lake and Brushy Creek have been modified to help manage both as one. The minimum length for bass in the lake was dropped to the statewide requirement of 14 inches from 18. On Brushy Creek from the lake to the county line, the blue and channel catfish daily bag limit has been reduced from 25 to five fish, and the 12-inch minimum has been removed. Anglers are limited to two poles and pole-and-line only. The 10-inch minimum limit on crappie in Lake Nasworthy near San Angelo has been removed. Fishery managers have determined the crappie in the reservoir are smaller than average and 50 percent die before harvest, rendering the size limit ineffective. TPWD believes increased harvest could restructure Lake Nasworthy’s crappie population. The 25fish bag limit will remain unchanged.
Texas has also standardized catfish regulations at Lake Texoma and the Red River to be in concert with Oklahoma regulations. Blue and channel catfish have a 15-fish limit without a minimum length. One blue catfish can be 30 inches or more. Flathead catfish have no minimum and are subject to a fivefish limit.
The alligator gar bag limit for Falcon International Reservoir was changed from one to five in 2015 on a five-year trial basis. TPWD has assessed that the reservoir has a strong gar population and will continue that five-fish limit.
For saltwater anglers, the minimum length for flounder has been changed from 14 to 15 inches for this year and a closure from Nov. 1-Dec. 15 has been set for 2021. There is also an update in paddlecraft licensing requirements to include leading courses from the American Canoe Association or another TPWD-approved course. The language was updated to remove courses that no longer exist.
44th annual Hunters Extravaganza, Fort Worth Convention Center, Fort Worth. Guides, outfitters, seminars, gear. $12 adults, $5 ages 5-12 and free for 4 and younger and active military and first responders. Parking, $10. Click on ttha.com.
Women’s fishing tournament sponsored by Aransas Bay Chapter of Coastal Conservation Association, Paws and Taws Convention Center, Fulton. Live music, vendors, educational outreach by conservation groups. Click on babesonthebay.com.
No entrance fee to commemorate National Park Service anniversary at all national parks. Call 361-949-8068 or click on nps.gov.
Regular meeting, 9 a.m.-5 p.m., TPWD headquarters, Austin. Click on tpwd.texas.gov.
41st annual San Antonio Chapter Banquet, 5 p.m., Expo Hall on the AT&T Center grounds. Dinner, drinks, auctions, raffles. $250 per person; tables from $2,200-$10,000. Click on ccatexas.org.
No entrance fee to commemorate National Public Lands Day at all national parks. Call 361-949-8068 or click on nps.gov.
$1 million tournament with some of the best anglers in the world, Lake Fork. Outdoor activities, seminars, TPWD Outdoor Adventures Area and Bassmaster Elite Series Outdoors Expo.