Charterboat fishermen finfish catch statistics for Texas marine waters (May 1983-May 1984)

From 15 May 1983-14 May 1984 headboat (10 people) and party-boat (<=10 people) fishermen fishing in inshore and offshore marine waters of Texas and the adjacent U.S. Fishery Conservation Zone were surveyed. During this period 236 party-boat and 242 headboat trips were surveyed. Headboat and party-boat fishermen spent over 748,000 man-h to land 828,200 finfish from Texas marine waters. Party-boat fishing accounted for 51% of the pressure; however, headboat fishing accounted for 63% of the harvest. Eleven headboats fished exclusively in inshore bay and pass areas; 22 headboats fished offshore in the Texas Territorial Sea and the U.S. Fishery Conservation Zone. Inshore headboat fishermen spent 189,000 man-hours to land 131,000 fish, primarily sand seatrout and Atlantic croaker. Most of the pressure and harvest occurred in the bays during the high use season (15 May-20 November). Offshore headboat fishermen spent 198,300 man-hours to catch 392,000 fish, primarily red snapper. Less than 2% of the pressure and 1% of the harvest occurred in the Texas Territorial season although the highest catch rate occurred offshore (3.30 fish/man-h) during the low use season (21 November-14 May). Fifty-two offshore and 184 inshore party-boat trips were surveyed. Inshore party-boat fishermen spent 248,100 man-hours to catch 258,800 fish, primarily spotted seatrout. Offshore party-boat fishermen fished 96,300 man-hours in the U.S. Fishery Conservation Zone and 40,200 man-hours in the Texas Territorial Sea. The offshore harvest was 46,100 fish, primarily king mackerel and red snapper. The offshore catch rate (0.34 fish/man-h) was lower than the inshore catch rate (1.04 fish/man-h). The majority of the pressure and harvest occurred in the bays during the high use season. No offshore party boats were intercepted during the low use season.