OUTDOORS
Taking it to the limit
By MATT WILLIAMS
Outdoors Writer
Tuesday, December 02, 2008
I am all about conservation and doing the right thing to protect our natural resources. But is Texas' alligator gar fishery in such distress that it might be necessary to limit their take with annual permits and/or minimum length limits?
Probably not. But the folks at the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department think it is high time something is done to offer some protection to the piscatorial titans before it is too late.
 Photo by Matt Williams Texas has one of the nation's last strongholds of alligator gar. TPWD thinks a size and bag limit might be necessary to protect it.  Courtesy Photo Citing the increasing popularity of going after trophy catfish with rod and reel, TPWD is considering the implementation of an 'experimental' 30-45 inch slot limit on blue catfish at three Texas lakes. The rule would allow anglers to retain one fish over 45 inches, per day. |
Long considered "trash fish" or "rough fish" by most angling standards, the alligator gar is among the largest predators swimming in freshwater. The fish have been known to grow beyond eight feet in length and to attain weights of more than 200 pounds.
The unrestricted state record alligator gar in Texas stands at 302 pounds. The fish was caught on a trotline from the Nueces River in 1953. A bowfisherman came alarmingly close to that record in 2001 with a 290 pounder taken from the Trinity River.
No one knows for certain how long it takes for an alligator gar to become a bona fide gargantuan, but scientists believe it can take decades. They also believe numbers of these fierce-looking creatures could be on the decline, mainly because of increased pressure from bowfishermen and rod and reel anglers.
Though the fish can be found in numerous water bodies across the state, the most abundant populations of big alligator gar are associated with major river systems and the reservoirs those rivers feed.
The Trinity River above Lake Livingston is considered by many to harbor one of most abundant populations of alligator gar in the nation. Other well known hotspots for big gar include Sam Rayburn, which is fed by the Angelina and Attoyac rivers, the Sabine River above Toledo Bend, Rio Grande River impoundments Falcon and Amistad, and Choke Canyon along the Frio River.
In mid-November, TPWD unveiled a long list of possible fishing regulation changes that could go into effect as early as September 2009. One of the possible changes involves setting some sort of limit designed to offer some protection to super-size alligator gar while at the same time allowing for utilization of the resource with limited harvest of trophy size fish.
The department outlined a couple of possible options with regards to a limit on these prehistoric-looking fish:
1.) Create a tag issuance system that would limit the size and/or number of alligator gar an angler would be allowed to harvest in one year.
2.) Set a minimum length limit of seven feet and a daily bag limit of one per angler.
It is possible that modifications could be made to the existing options. Regardless, TPWD's inland fisheries chief Phil Durocher seems fairly adamant about placing a limit of some sort on alligator gar.
"People come to Texas from all over the world for the opportunity to take a big alligator gar and we want to make sure these fish are here to stay," Durocher said. "At this point I don't know what the limit will be, but we are going to do something to limit the take of the big ones."
Texas is not the first state to consider harvest restrictions for alligator. Nearly a half dozen states across the South currently have daily bag limits in place for the toothy leviathans.
According to Durocher, Texas represents one of the last strongholds in the union for trophy class alligator gar. In fact, Louisiana is the only state with an alligator gar population that comes remotely close in quality to that found in Texas.
"The difference is our fish are much bigger and abundant than they have in Louisiana, mainly because there is so much commercial fishing pressure over there," Durocher said. "In most of the states along the Mississippi River basin where the alligator gar once thrived the fish have either be extirpated or there are very few left. We are very fortunate here in Texas, because we have one of the last remaining populations of big gar. I don't want that to go away."
Blue catfish are far from extirpation in Texas, but fisheries scientists are looking seriously at recommending a 30-45 inch slot limit in order to protect heavyweight blue catfish from harvest on trio of Texas lakes.
The named lakes include Richland Chambers, Waco and Lewisville. The limit would protect blue catfish measuring 30-45 inches and allow anglers to retain only one fish greater than 45 inches per day. Anglers could still keep 25 fish per day between 12-30 inches in length.
Durocher said the department is looking at the slot limit as a means of protecting older age class fish from harvest and to ultimately enhance rod and reel angling opportunities for trophy class cats.
"Fishing for trophy catfish is becoming more and more popular these days," he said. "These big fish are very valuable and we would like to do some experimental work on a few lakes to try to promote the trophy fishing concept."
Durocher said the slot limit could expand to other Texas lakes in the future if it proves successful on RC, Lewisville and Waco.
"I'm not saying it is going to be a statewide thing, because we don't have the big blue cat everywhere," Durocher said. "But if it works out on these lakes the way we think it will, we might consider placing the limit on some other lakes around the state with good potential to produce trophy blue catfish."
These and other possible regulation changes will be open for public comment in coming weeks. The TPW Commission will vote on final proposals in March 2009.
To comment on any of the possible regulation changes, contact Ken Kurzawski at ken.kurzawski@tpwd .state.tx.us or 512-389-4591.
