CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The freeze of 2021 continues to be a topic of discussion in the Coastal Bend.
The freezing temperatures for a week in February hurt fish populations all along the Coastal Bend. Texas Parks and Wildlife Division said over three million Seatrout were killed. Restrictions were put in place to help the population bounce back.
"I think the restrictions were good. It's something we needed to allow the fishery to sustain," said Aaron Salazar a professional fisherman.
Fishermen could only keep three fish rather than five and they had to be between 17 and 23 inches.
Those restrictions were lifted in August 2023. Fishermen noticed the population did rise after that.
“You saw them a lot more on the flats. They were starting to come on the flats, start laying eggs,” Salazar said.
“This past season that we just came off of was probably one of the best trout fisheries we’ve ever had. So, for anyone to say we’re lacking as far as a fishery goes is kind of blasphemy,” said Jesse Torres, a fishing guide.
Now there’s a movement to put similar restrictions back in place for Spotted Seatrout. The bag limit, again, would allow only three instead of five and they must be between 15 and 20 inches. One "trophy fish" over 25 inches would be allowed to be kept.
Torres has opposed this idea and believes this would hurt the average angler. He said it would only benefit a few people.
“They’re trying to change the fishery to better themselves and better their businesses, better their tournaments and better their fisheries rather than the whole fishery itself. They don’t care about anyone else, but themselves,” he said.
Salazar said he doesn’t mind the rule change. He's a fisherman who likes the idea of fishing for sport and not keeping the fish.
“Try to stay away from, taking more than we need to. Again, monitoring what we’re doing and having the mindset of conservation involved,” Salazar said.
Both fishermen see larger issues at play.
Salazar said no matter the rule in place you have to enforce it or it means nothing.
“Biggest thing I think we could do to sustain it is enforce the laws we have now. We are not enforcing the laws, we don’t even have enough Parks and Wildlife to enforce it,” Salazar said.
Torres believes if they implement the restrictions, what dictates they will stop? If the Coastal Bend sees another freeze this winter, will the bag limit drop to two or one?
He also sees how this will impact other species and go the same way it went during the original restrictions.
“What’s everyone going to do once they get their three fish again? Go back to Red (Drum) fishing right? So that fishery is already still trying to mend itself. So, you’re going to hurt it again and then what?" Torres said.
Texas Parks and Wildlife Division will be holding input sessions to get a real feel of how anglers feel about these possible restrictions. The first in-person session at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi is on Tuesday, Jan. 9 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the Natural Resources Building.
Both Salazar and Torres said they'd be in attendance to share their opinions.
If you cannot make this meeting or any of the other sessions, you can share your thoughts with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Division here.
You can also share your thoughts through phone or email with The Coastal Fisheries Division at 512-389-8575 or cfish@tpwd.texas.gov.
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