Anglers: The most powerful tool in fisheries management

Last winter’s freeze had a name – it was Uri. It was not a shot across the bow of Texas’ sportfisheries, but rather a full broadside. As our late friend Billy Sandifer was famous for saying, “Mother Nature is a…”, well, “cruel.” He obviously used more colorful terminology, but his point was spot-on. She certainly reminded us how fragile even a healthy ecosystem is, and lots of trout anglers got that message loud and clear last February. One day we were enjoying great winter fishing, then overnight we watched as millions of dead fish began littering shorelines.   

On top of natural events, most anglers would agree there is more recreational fishing pressure on our coastal fisheries than ever before, unwelcome news for those looking to find a quiet stretch of shoreline. The human population projections for our state show enormous growth over the next few decades, especially in our coastal regions. There are a multitude of ideas on how to mitigate the impact of increased angling pressure both now and in the future. One of the most common suggestions is that Texas Parks and Wildlife (TPWD) should simply increase coastal fish stocking efforts. Certainly, hatcheries can play a role in enhancing our fisheries; however, the future of sportfish management is not that simple and goes well beyond any one technique. Future fisheries management must take a multifaceted approach by using science-based decision making and angler-based stewardship to maintain the sustainability of our sportfisheries. There are a lot of moving parts, requiring anglers, managers, and researchers to work together to ensure a positive outcome.

Fish stocking efforts have a long history, and experience has taught us that stocking success depends heavily on the species in question and environmental conditions in general. Nationwide, the contributions of stocking programs have ranged from being negligible to a “saving grace.” In Texas, stocking programs have increased potential for certain species like Southern Flounder, which have a naturally lower reproductive capacity than Spotted Seatrout or Redfish. For comparison, a mature female Redfish has a massive body cavity that houses ovaries capable of producing ~20 million eggs annually. To be clear, the natural mortality rate for most fish species’ hatchlings/juveniles is usually around 99%. This means that out of the millions of eggs produced by each Redfish every year, maybe only a few individuals survive to join the adult population. Even with this staggering natural juvenile mortality, species like Redfish and Spotted Seatrout have the reproductive potential to naturally overcome natural mortality events like the freeze if human-based pressures are temporarily reduced. We must just be patient enough for the recovery to happen (although stocking Spotted Seatrout after the freeze could potentially speed up recovery). Unlike Redfish and Spotted Seatrout, Southern Flounder have evolved to lay flat and thus must stuff all their organs into a tiny body cavity which leaves little room for extensive gonad development. This biological attribute, coupled with Texas being at the edge of the Southern Flounder’s preferred range, means that most female Southern Flounder in Texas can only produce ~350,000 eggs annually. This has negative implications for the overall reproductive potential of Texas’ Southern Flounder population, especially in the face of increasing fishing pressure. It is also the exact type of situation in which stocking could be used in conjunction with other efforts to help the species recover. That being said, Southern Flounder have presented unique obstacles when scaling up hatchery production, although these challenges might be overcome in the near future. Even in the best scenarios, we cannot rely on stocking alone to solve all our fishery challenges, especially when it comes to increasing sportfish recruitment, (baby fish that are entering the population after hatching), to offset rising fishing pressure.

I was told growing up to not discuss a problem without also suggesting a viable solution. Fortunately, Texas’ naturally productive waters offer us an answer for recruit supply concerns. Many of our sportfish species, including Redfish and Southern Flounder, are estuarine dependent. Boiled down, that means that adult fish will leave our bays through tidal inlets such as the Aransas Channel to spawn just offshore. The young recruits will then return through the inlets into seagrass, marsh, and oyster “nursery habitats” to mature. These nursery habitats and tidal inlets like the Aransas Channel are “Mother Nature’s Hatchery”, a classic example of Essential Fish Habitat (EFH). EFH is a scientific term used to describe “waters and substrate necessary to fish for spawning, breeding, feeding or growth to maturity,” and its importance is legally recognized in the Magnuson-Stevens Act. The potential natural productivity of Texas’ marine EFH is tremendous. For example, one Redfish recruit can be found in every 10 square feet of seagrass. Extrapolate that across all available nursery habitat in our bays, and the production potential exceeds any conceivable hatchery or stocking program. Conserving and restoring these nursery habitats is a critical tool to help ensure stable and sustainable sportfish populations.

In addition to stocking programs and habitat conservation, managers have several other tools at their disposal. The most obvious and probably most loathed is new regulatory measures. Most of us do not like to be overregulated; however, these restrictions are in place to maintain the sustainability of our resources. Luckily, and I say this from personal experience as an independent fisheries professional, TPWD is very committed to ensuring angler access to Texas’ sportfisheries and restrictive regulatory changes are never the first option on their list. It is this “access first” management style that makes TPWD one of the finest state conservation agencies in the country. Interestingly, many recreational anglers in Texas believe regulations should be even stricter for Spotted Seatrout. Texas’ anglers also rejected increasing bag limits for Redfish in the past, as they preferred conserving the resource over keeping a few additional fish. This increase in angler-requested regulation ties in well with the final management tool discussed in this article.

Perhaps the newest tool on the management scene is angler engagement. Anglers are eager to do the right thing and just need to be given the tools and information to practice wise stewardship of the resource. For this reason, angler engagement is quickly becoming one of the most important facets in fisheries research and sustainable management programs. We won’t need as many restrictive regulations in the future if everyone practices sound conservation measures in the present. While recreational anglers have always been the cornerstone of fisheries conservation, their formal inclusion into fisheries research and management development has been very recent. Angler engagement can take many forms, including direct involvement in research programs. Simply put, how much more effective is our research when anglers are aware of it, understand it, and implement it? Likewise, how much more effective can our research be when we tap into the expansive first-hand fisheries knowledge that so many recreational anglers possess? It is worth noting that many of this magazine’s contributors are active participants in this realm. These folks have been trained by decades of on-the-water experience and know what it takes to ensure a healthy fishery. While these programs are still in their infancy, our research has already shown angler engagement programs will lead to healthier fisheries, better stakeholder communication, and higher angler satisfaction overall. This is why the Sportfish Center is dedicating so much effort to connecting anglers, researchers, managers, and fishing industry leaders!

Natural mortality events like the freeze, increasing fishing pressure, and the fact that a finite number of healthy inlets and fish nurseries remain, means that we must conserve what we have to maintain healthy sportfisheries. If our nursery habitats remain expansive, our inlets flow with clean water, and anglers are engaged to practice wise stewardship of our resources, our sportfisheries have more than a fighting chance at long-term sustainability. While management and research organizations are great, everyday anglers are truly the first responders for any fishery and are pivotal to sustainability. The Sportfish Center remains committed to informing and equipping anglers to perform best fishing practices to ensure widespread conservation of our sportfisheries. Cooperation and communication between anglers, managers, and researchers remain the most powerful tools for ensuring the health of Texas’ sportfisheries.  

Quentin Hall is the Angler Engagement Coordinator for the Center for Sportfish Science and Conservation at the Harte Research Institute. He turned his lifelong fishing and hunting habits into a career, receiving dual bachelor’s degrees in Animal Science and Fisheries Management from the University of Missouri and his M.S. in Marine Biology from Texas A&M – Corpus Christi. While Quentin’s research focuses on a variety of studies ranging from juvenile sportfish recruitment dynamics to sportfish movements, his true passion is connecting anglers with the science supporting their fisheries.