Browsing by Author "Breuer, Joseph P."
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Item Administration and Supervision of Contract Drum Removal Program - Marine Fisheries Management in Texas(Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, 1965) Breuer, Joseph P.Harvest of black drum from the bay waters of Cameron and Willacy Counties with contract nets was accomplished from November 1, 1963 through March 5, 1964. Due in part to a shortage of black drum in the contract fishing area, the 1963-64 season closed earlier than in previous years and the 1964-65 season was not initiated. Net checks showed no change from checks made in previous years, and no significant numbers of desirable fish were harmed by any properly conducted contract netting operation. Total drum landings for the 1963-64 season were 268,191 pounds compared to 462,577 pounds (dressed weight) for the previous season. Calculated live weight declined from 685,558 to 344,602 pounds. Over 70 per cent of the 1963-64 harvest was of small choice drum, (1-5 pounds) compared to only 34 per cent of this size in the 1962-63. Value received for the 1963-64 harvest was $20,429.57 and an average of 7.907 cents per pounds compared to $30,315.60 and an average of 7.396 cents per pound for the previous season. The average number of pounds per net day was 50.9 compared to 65.1 for the previous season. In each of the past two seasons, the primary peak of harvest occurred during the middle of January with a second smaller peak occurring in early March.Item Administration of Contract Drum Removal Program and Computation of Record of Catch Data - Marine Fisheries Management in Region V(Texas Game and Fish Commission Marine Laboratory, 1963) Breuer, Joseph P.There were twenty-four requests for permits for the 1962-1963 season. Sixteen were issued; thirteen remained active at the close of the season. Record of catch forms, which are filled in daily and submitted monthly by each contract drum netter, were analyzed. Twenty-four fishermen, in 1,553 days fished, harvested 161,882 black drum during the six-month period from December 1, 1961 to May 31, 1962 in the waters of Cameron and Willacy Counties. These black drum weighed 725,561 pounds (562,034 pounds dressed weight). The fishermen received $46,849.29 for this catch. The 25 per cent drop in contract drum landings compared to the previous season is due, in part, to the earlier migration of drum northward out of the contract area. Elimination of the present seasonal limitations and extention of the contract area to include Kenedy and Kleburg Counties is recommended so that significant increases in black drum harvest can be affected.Item Analysis of Black Drum Harvest - Marine Fisheries Management in Texas(Texas Game and Fish Commission Marine Laboratory, 1963) Breuer, Joseph P.Data provided by contract drum netters on record of catch data forms and tag returns from a mass black drum tagging effort are used to statistically compute the black drum population for the two county area over a four month period. The actual contract net catch per unit of effort was also calculated and compared with the calculated populations. Population fluctuations are discussed and management recommendations, based on the calculated populations, are given.Item Analysis of populations of sport and commercial fin-fish in the coastal bays of Texas.(Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, 1967) Breuer, Joseph P.; Coastal Fisheries project reportsJuvenile game fish were sampled during 1967 in all Texas bay areas, including Galveston, with 60-foot bag seines; adult fish were sampled with trammel nets and drag seines. Coastwide, a general and healthy increase was noted in the production of juvenile redfish, Sciaenops ocellata, trout, Cynoscion nebulosus, and flounder, Paralichthys lethostigma compared to 1966. Juvenile sheepshead, Archosargus probatocephelus, and black drum, Pogonias cromis, declined in abundance in all areas. Adult fish samples indicated that no species increased in abundance in 1967.Item Analysis of Populations of Sports and Commercial Fin-fish in the Coastal Bays of Texas(Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, 1968) Breuer, Joseph P.; Coastal Fisheries Project Reports 1968Juvenile game fish were sampled in 1968 in all Texas bay areas with 60 ft. bag seines; adult fish were sampled in Galveston Bay by drag seine and in Aransas Bay and the Upper and Lower Laguna Madre with trammel nets. A general and significant increase in the relative abundance of juvenile redfish, Sciaenops ocellata, was noted. In the case of trout, Cynoscion nebulosus, flounder, Paralichthys lethostigma, black drum, Pogonias cromis, and sheepshead, Archosargus probatocephalus, there was either a decline in general abundance or no significant change from the previous year. While variations in abundance of adult fish occurred within bays, no coastwide patterns could be discerned. These samples were obtained in order to determine relative abundance, seasonal fluctuations in abundance and success of spawning. Captured fish of sufficient size and in good condition were tagged and released to study movements, migrations and rate of fishing harvest.Item Analysis of Populations of Sports and Commercial Fin-fish in the Coastal Bays of Texas(Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, 1966) Breuer, Joseph P.; Texas Parks & Wildlife Coastal Fisheries Project Reports 1966Juvenile gamefish were sampled in all Texas bay areas in 1966 with 60 foot bag seines; adults were sampled with trammel nets and drag-seines. Production of juvenile redfish, Sciaenops ocellata, was up in Galveston Bay, San Antonio Bay and Lower Laguna Madre areas and down in Matagorda Bay area. Juvenile trout, Cynoscion nebulosus, Black drum, Pogonias cromis, and sheepshead, Archosargus probatocephalus, increased in Matagorda Bay, but decreased in Galveston Bay and the lower Laguna Madre. Declines in abundance were noted for flounder, Paralichthys lethostigma, in Galveston, Matagorda, and San Antonio Bays and in the Lower Laguna Madre.Item Analysis of Populations of Sports and Commercial Fin-Fish in the Coastal Bays of Texas(Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, 1966) Breuer, Joseph P.; Texas Parks & Wildlife Coastal Fisheries Project Reports 1965Juvenile food and game fish were sampled in all bay areas with 60-foot bag seines; adults were sampled with trammel nets and drag seines. Juvenile redfish, Sciaenops ocellata, were more abundant in 1965 than in 1964 in the Galveston Bay, Matagorda Bay, and Lower Laguna Madre areas, but were less abundant in Corpus Christi Bay and th Upper Lanuna Madre. Juvenile trout, Cynoscion nebulosus, numbers declined in Galveston Bay and the Laguna Madre and were more abundant in Aransas Bay and San Antonio Bay. Juvenile black drum, Pogonias cromis, were less abundant in all areas, while young flounder Paralichthys lethostigma, were generally more abundant. No increases were noted for adult black drum, and there was a decline in most areas. Redfish and trout became more numerous in the fresher water bays (Galveston, Matagorda, San Antonio), but generally decreased along the lower coasts, where sheepshead increased in numbers.Item Baffin Bay Survey Quarterly Report - October 1, 1951 to December 31, 1951(Texas Game and Fish Commission, 1952-01) Breuer, Joseph P.The quarterly period of October, November, and December, 1951 was spent, as the previous two quarters, in conducting the biological and ecological survey of the Baffin Bay area. This survey includes such collections as the procuring of water samples for pH, turbidity and salinity determinations, weather data, water temperatures, bottom cores for nutrient determination, water currents and tides, and biological collections such as plankton hauls for planktonic forms, otter and beam trawls and graded sieves for benthic forms and gill nets and trot lines for pelagic forms.Item Biological Survey of the Tidewater Areas of the Rio Grande(Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, 1970) Breuer, Joseph P.Hydrographic and biological sampling stations were established on the Lower Rio Grande every four miles from the mouth upstream to Mile 28. These were sampled 15 times in 1969 and 1970. Hydrographic samples included water temperatures, pH, turbidity, surface and bottom salinities, and surface and bottom dissolved oxygen. Biological samples were taken principally with a 12-foot otter trawl. Results of sampling were tabulated and analyzed.Item Checklist of the Flora and Fauna of the Waters of the Project Work Area with Notes on Variations in Abundance(Texas Game and Fish Commission, 1959) Breuer, Joseph P.Objective: To determine the number of species of marine fauna and flora present; their effects on each other, their relative abundance and normal range, and the effects of various factors upon their abundance in the area.Item Construction of Artificial Reefs in the Upper Laguna Madre - Developmental Activities in Region V(Texas Game and Fish Commission Marine Laboratory, 1963) Breuer, Joseph P.Objectives: The objectives of this job was to provide an improved fisheries habitat in the upper Laguna Madre in the form of artificial reefs. Small trial reefs were constructed on the locations of the present reefs in March 1961 when five cubic yards of oyster shell were deposited and spread on each location. Each of these trial reefs was seeded with commercial oysters. While these oysters died in the summer of 1961, the shell on the trial reefs provided cultch for a new crop of oysters which appeared naturally in the spring of 1962. Additional sampling of the trial reefs showed that small fish and stone crabs had moved onto the reefs. On the basis of these sucessful trials, enlargement of these reefs was recommended.Item Construction of Trial Reefs in Corpus Christi Bay - Developmental Activities in Region V(Texas Game and Fish Commission Marine Laboratory, 1963) Breuer, Joseph P.Objectives: The objective of this job was to determine if fisheries habitat could be improved along the southern shoreline of Corpus Christi Bay by the construction of artificial reefs. It is an established fact that many important sports and commercial fish congregate over natural reefs. That artificially formed reefs could provided an improved fisheries habitat was determined after World War I, when fishing was found to be productive in the vicinity of wrecked and sunken ships. States which have since engaged in artificial reef construction include New York, Maryland and North Carolina on the Atlantic Coast, California on the Pacific Coast and Alabama and Texas on the Gulf Coast. In bay waters Texas fishermen have long known that abundant fish populations may exist near natural oyster reefs. Artificially constructed oyster reefs can also produce oysters and associated organisms, thereby attracting food and game fish. Good catches of fish have been made off such reefs in the Port Isabel and Aransas Bay areas. The purpose of this job is to determine if artficially constructed shell reefs in selected areas of Corpus Christi Bay will produce oysters and associated organisms, which in turn will attract sport fish, thereby providing a concentration of sports and food fish for the sports fishermen.Item Contract Drum Fishing, Lower Laguna Madre Observations of Contract Netting Operations - Marine Fisheries Management in Texas(Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, 1964) Breuer, Joseph P.The results of net checks made during the period show no significant variations in the effects of contract drum netting operations on fish other than black drum as compared to similar checks made in previous years. Checks made of contract nets during the contract drum fishing season indicated that the percentage capture of fish other than drum was similar to that of previous years. Gill nets constructed of monofilament did not cause any greater mortality than those constructed of twisted nylon. No changes in regulations governing fishing gear were recommended.Item Contract Drum Fishing, Lower Laguna Madre, Computation of Record of Catch Data - Marine Fisheries Management in Texas(Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, 1964) Breuer, Joseph P.Of the 462,577 pounds of dressed black drum harvested during the 1962-63 season in Cameron and Willacy Counties, 31 per cent were under 5 pounds in weight, 43.5 per cent were between 5 and 10 pounds, and 22.5 per cent were over 10 pounds. During the 1961-62 season, 70 per cent of the black drum harvested were under 5 pounds in weight. The calculated live weight of the total landings was 685,558 pounds, which sold for a total of $30,315.60 or an average of 7.396 cents per pound. The average catch per day per contractor was 449.8 pounds compared to 361.9 pounds for the 1961-62 season, the increase due to the larger size of the drum present. Deeper water areas yielded a consistently better catch than shallow waters, as the larger drum, which were more abundant, preferred deeper waters. The average pounds per net day (300 feet of net per 24-hour period) was 65.1 with the peak of harvest occurring in mid-January 1963.Item Contract Placement of Buoys on Artificial Fishing Reefs off Port Aransas and Port Isabel - Developmental Activities in Region V(Texas Game and Fish Commission Marine Laboratory, 1963) Breuer, Joseph P.Two DL-4 buoys complete with 6,000-pound concrete anchors and chains were placed on artificial reefs previously constructed by the Texas Game and Fish Commission. One of these buoys was placed on the Port Aransas reef at latitude 27 degrees 46' 25" and longitude 95 degrees 58' 15"; the other was placed near Port Isabel at latitude 26 degrees 05' 21" and longitude 97 degrees 06'. This work was done by a private firm under contract.Item Coordination of Coastwide Fin-Fish Investigations Project(Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, 1964) Breuer, Joseph P.; Texas Parks & Wildlife Coastal Fisheries Project Reports 1963This report is based upon a total of 975 collections made during 1963. Two hundred and twelve of these were trammel net of drag seine collections for sampling adult game fish. Two hundred and fifty-four were seine collections for sampling juvenile game fish. Five hundred and nine samples were made with trawls to sample forage species.Item Coordination of Coastwide Fin-Fish Investigations Project - Analysis of Populations of Sports and Commercial Fin-Fish and of Factors Which Affect These Populations in the Coastal Bays of Texas(Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, 1965) Breuer, Joseph P.; Texas Parks & Wildlife Coastal Fisheries Project Report 1964A coastwide total of 701 juvenile fish samples taken in 1964 indicated that all species experienced an increase in numbers over 1963 except trout, which declined slightly in numbers. Adult fish samples taken in 1964 totaled 74 drag seine samples, including ones from Galveston Bay, and 167 trammel net samples. Adult trout increased in numbers over those in 1963, while little or no change was indicated by all other species. Analysis of tag return indicate no pattern of interbay migrations. Fish movements were generally between shallow and deep water and were correlated with season and water temperature.Item Ecological Survey of the South Bay Area, Especially That Area which was Influenced by Boca Chica Pass While It was Open - Development Survey of the Waters of South Bay in Cameron County, Especially That Area Which Would be Affected by the Opening and Closing of Boca Chica Pass(Texas Game and Fish Commission, 1960-12-31) Breuer, Joseph P.Objective: To obtain a knowledge of ecological conditions which now exist in the area and to compare them with conditions which existed while the pass was open.Item Ecological Survey of the Waters of Willacy and Kenedy Counties Which are Affected by or Influenced by Port Mansfield Pass, Jetties and Channel - Developmental Survey of the Waters of Willacy and Kenedy Counties, Especially Those Waters Which are Affected by the Opening of Port Mansfield Pass and Channel(Texas Game and Fish Commission Marine Laboratory, 1962) Breuer, Joseph P.Port Mansfield Pass, between the Gulf and the Laguna Madre, was closed throughout the period to allow construction of jetties. Hydrographic data and biological samples were obtained and the results compared with similar samples obtained during previous years. Changes in vegetative coverage, changes in habit of marine fauna and influx of new species have been noted.Item Experimental Rehabilitation of the Commercial Oyster in the Project Area, Especially in the Port Isabel Area(Texas Game and Fish Commission, 1959) Breuer, Joseph P.Objectives: To determine whether the commercial production of oysters in the Port Isabel area of the work project area can be increased.