Recreational and commercial finfish catch statistics for Texas bay systems, September 1974 to August 1977.

Date

1978

Authors

Green, A.W.
Heffernan, T.L.
Breuer, J.P.
Martinez, A.R.
Favor, M.N.
Garcia, M.A.
Benefield, R.L.
Weixelman, M.G.

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

Abstract

During September 1976 to August 1977 the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department monitored the weekend recreational boat fishing in 7 major bay systems. This survey showed that weekend boat fishermen expended 2,481,900 man-hours to land 1,837,800 lb of finfish (an average catch rate of .78 lb/h). Total finfish landings (in pounds) by bay system were: Galveston, 583,500 lb; Lower Laguna Madre, 279,200 lb; Corpus Christi, 167,900 lb; and Matagorda, 166,400 ob. A comparison of weekend boat sport fishing estimates from 1974-75 and 1975-76 with estimates obtained during the 1976-77 survey showed that there has been a 19 to 35% decline in landings. These comparisons also showed that the decrease was mostly due to a decrease in fishing pressure. Catch rates for the three years have remained virtually unchanged for all surveyed species. The decrease in fishing pressure was attributed to a severe winter during 1976-77 and possibly a change in the manner that boat ramp sites were selected for interviewing.

Description

81 p.

Keywords

sport fishing, finfish, harvesting, entangling nets, gillnets, fishing gear

Citation