This is Passport to Texas

Alligator gar, virtually unchanged from prehistoric times, is attracting an enthusiastic 21st Century following.

:04—The species in recent years has become very popular amongst anglers and bow fishers.

David Buckmeier is a fisheries scientist for parks and wildlife. To fish for gar, you have to know where to find them.

:21—Most alligator gar are found in coastal rivers along the eastern part of the state; rivers like the Trinity are very, very well-known for their alligator gar populations. They’re also found in our coastal bays. They’re an interesting species in that they can go back and forth—maybe not into full salt water like in the gulf—but definitely in the bay systems. And they can go back and forth into the river and into those upper parts of those bays.

The alligator gar is the largest freshwater fish in Texas and gives anglers a good fight.

:16—Yes, they actually fight quite well. As you can imagine, any fish that weighs 150 or 200 pounds has a lot of power. So, they do fight; they actually jump quite a bit. They’ll completely clear the water. There’s some variations; some of them are more sluggish than others. But, they’re very entertaining and that’s the reason, I guess, for the popularity.

Anglers may keep one of these big fish per day. Lean more about freshwater fishing at the Texas parks and Wildlife website.

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

This is Passport to Texas

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

:07—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.

:11—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.

:21—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.

We call searching the Internet surfing. But, we call searching a net that’s been in the surf, seining.

06—Seining is dragging a long net through the water, catching small fish and aquatic animals.

Hans Haglund is an interpretive ranger at Galveston Island State Park. He says the bay waters are teaming with all kind of life. And he’s taken more than a few visitors seining in Galveston Bay.

11—We do it to help educate about the bay, the wetlands, the environment out here; to show people how important they are, how productive they are, what these areas do for us, why we might need to protect them and look out for them.

Abundant, healthy wetlands can help to mitigate potential flood damage, as well as serve as nurseries for marine life. Haglund describes visitor reactions to what they catch in their seine nets.

09—Oh, I never know that was out there, and I never knew you could get so much in a little area. Even people that have been using the bay a lot – a lot of fishermen – don’t realize how productive these areas are.

Some of the more unusual fish Haglund says they see include the pipe fish and lizard fish.

Summer’s right around the corner and Galveston Island State Park offers a great coastal getaway. Learn more at texasstateparks.org.

The Sport Fish and Wildlife Restoration Program supports our series…and works to increase fishing and boating opportunities in Texas.

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

An artificial reef is marine habitat created by man and placed on the ocean bottom for the benefit of marine life.

12—Nature has a way of providing its own habitat, but in the case of the Gulf of Mexico – offshore Texas – most of the substrate is soft, murky, muddy, and there’s very little hard substrate out there.

Dale Shively coordinates the artificial reef program for Texas Parks and Wildlife. He says that hard substrate is necessary for the development of reefs. What’s fascinating is that once they deploy the substrate material, within days marine life begins attaching to it.

10—In a very short period of time, the substrate is covered with barnacles and sponges and some types of coral. And that begins the basis of the food web as we know it.

Without artificial reefs in the Gulf of Mexico, the waters wouldn’t be nearly as productive and vital as they are.

All kinds of items end up on the bottom of the gulf as artificial reefs: from oil rigs to concrete rubble to decommissioned battleships.

But what does any of this mean to the average Texan? Why should we care about this effort to create artificial reefs?

13—The importance of the reef program is, number one: preserve and enhance the marine environment. And by doing that, we also create fishing and diving opportunities for not only Texans, but also citizens throughout the US.

That’s our show for today…we receive support from the Sport Fish Restoration Program… funded by your purchase of fishing equipment and motor boat fuels.

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

Memorial Day weekend is the gateway to summer fun. And Texas Parks and Wildlife magazine editor Louie Bond says the June issue takes readers to the coast for a little fishing.

55—We sure are heading to the coast this month, Cecilia. You know, I guess people throughout our agency and throughout the state would argue about what the most exciting type of fishing is, whether it’s catching those big bass out in the lakes or fly fishing on the river…but for me, it’s being out there on the Gulf—what a tempestuous body of water, and what a challenge to fish out there. So, this month I have David Sykes from the Corpus Christi Caller Times and Larry Bozka; both well-known anglers and much to my delight both great writers. And so, we have dueling stories—both of conservation and sport fishing this month down on the lower Texas coast. And I’m excited to read about it. I still recall my favorite redfish experience: catching the biggest fish on the boat when I was eight months pregnant. Surprised a lot of the guys, I can tell you that. But, Larry will help us take a look at redfish, and David’s taking us for a look at that amazing sport fish—the tarpon. So, we hope that everybody will head down to the coast with us this month.

That’s our show…with funding from the Sport Fish restoration program, working to increase fishing and boating opportunities in Texas.

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

Before you sell seashells by the seashore, you first have to find them. Surprisingly, summer beach combing may not yield the results you desire.

I feel the best time to go shelling is in the wintertime.

Paul Hammerschmidt, with coastal fisheries, is a lifelong and—admittedly obsessive—shell collector. He says winter storms churn up the Gulf bottom, sending marine critters and their calciferous containments onto the beach. To improve your chances of finding a variety of intact shells, Hammerschmidt says stay clear of crowded beaches.

If you get a chance to go to some more isolated beaches, like down on Padres island, or something like that, where the population of humans is not quite so thick, you’ll have a much better chance of finding some really unusual shells.

Such as a pretty little shell called baby ears—which looks like…well…baby ears. Or, there’s another special shell worth searching for called spirula.

And it’s a coiled, snail-like shell. But it doesn’t belong to a snail—it belongs to a little squid. And it’s inside the squid, and when the squid dies, that little thing has a lot of chambers in it with gas, and it floats and washes up on the beach. Those are very pretty, bright white, and they’re very fragile, so you have to be careful with them.

This winter, instead of heading to the slopes for skiing, head to the beach for shelling…you can still have hot cocoa when you’re done.

That’s our show for today….remember: Life’s Better Outside…For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

Nobody thinks twice about collecting shells from the beach. But I started to wonder if it’s really okay since beaches are public land.

It’s okay to collect shells. The ones that are broken and come apart, they create the sand that’s out there, but there is no law against it [collecting].

Paul Hammerschmidt, with coastal fisheries, is a lifelong shell collector. He says collect responsibly to avoid creating problems for the environment or marine animals.

I highly recommend that you only take shells that are from dead animals—not live animals.

How can you determine if something is still alive? In the case of the popular sand dollar, small spines cover the shells of living animals…so look for smooth, spineless shells. If, like me, you’ve never found a sand dollar on the beach—there’s good reason for it.

I think it’s because everybody wants to get a sand dollar. And, too, they’re another very fragile shell. And when the waves are strong, they’ll get broken up, and you’ll just see fragments of them. A lot of times, the best time to find a sand dollar, is after a storm—and then very early in the morning—before anybody else gets out on the beach.

More tips on when and where to go shelling tomorrow. Continue this story online at passporttotexas.org.

That’s our show for today….remember: Life’s Better Outside…For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

What are big and plentiful and ready to give anglers a good fight?

07—Large schools of mature red drum – male and female – aggregating near gulf passes to spawn.

Bill Balboa is ecosystem leader for Galveston Bay. Late summer through fall, bull redfish—called bulls because of their size, not gender—between 28 and 50 inches long, swarm near shore during a Texas style running of the bulls.

20—They call them bulls for a reason, and it’s because they’re very strong fish; they don’t give up easily. So generally most anglers are going to fish for bull reds in the surf using what I would consider typical surf tackle — which is a little bit heavier rod and reel, because what they can expect is a lot of long runs from this fish. They pull very hard. Much like a bull would pull if you had it on a rope.

You can reel in these bull redfish all along the coast, but if you really want to get a workout, head north of Matagorda Bay.

08—A lot of bull red fishing occurs in Sergeant up off of Freeport; Crystal Beach and Bolivar, in that area, and off of Sabine Pass.

That’s our show…made possible by 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.

At the end of January, two vessels collided in the port of Port Arthur; one was an oil tanker carrying crude, the other a barge towing ships.

This is the largest spill that Port Arthur’s seen in a very long time.

Winston Denton is a Texas Parks and Wildlife biologist who was at the site of the January 23 incident.

The Eagle Otome is an oil tanker; it was coming into Port Arthur [when the accident occurred]. Okay, we’re looking at the barge that was involved in the collision with the ship. The barge just hit it and went right inside the ship.

It’s estimated that 450-thousand gallons of crude spilled into the water… which translates to approximately 11-thousand barrels of oil.

Prior to this, what we considered a large spill was two to three thousand barrels; and this is, like, four times that.

Hundreds of people, including from parks and wildlife and the US coast guard, mobilized to mitigate damages and clean the spill. Booms stopped oil from migrating down the intercostal waterway into sensitive wetlands. More than a dozen animals died from the spill, but others were trapped, cleaned and saved.

That’s one more…I think he’ll make it.

At the time we recorded this show, oil sheen remained on the water.

That’s our show…with support from the Sport Fish Restoration Program… For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

Since 2002, twenty-six thousand derelict crab traps have been hauled from Texas bays.

Through our program we have documented over forty species of organisms that are caught in these traps that include game fish, and commercially important fish, and even Diamond back terrapins which are a species of special concern.

That’s Art Morris is a biologist with Coastal Fisheries. He says Parks and Wildlife is gearing up for the annual Crab Trap clean up, February 19-28. Volunteers are needed.

Anybody can volunteer, however, we primarily need people with boats, and particularly air boats. But there are jobs for people that don’t have a boat. We need people to unload boats; we need people to maybe sometimes to go out with people that will have crew members to go out with them. We’ll provide gloves; we’ll have tarps for boats. You don’t need to sign up for anything. We would like you to call ahead of time so we can get an estimate of how many people are going to come to that site. Most of our work’s going to be done in San Antonio bay, north, because that’s where most of the crabbing effort goes on. But anybody can volunteer, and they can do it on their own—anytime from February 19 through 28th.

The main cleanup event is February 20 from 8:00 to noon; check the TPW website for details. Morris warns to remove traps only during Feb. 19-28 as it is illegal all other times as traps are private property.

That’s our show…with support from the Sport Fish Restoration Program…For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti