12-19-2006, 08:10 PM
ROCKPORT, Texas - The popular Redfish Bay area received an extra measure of protection beginning May 1. On that date, a new regulation took effect, prohibiting the uprooting of seagrass within the Redfish Bay State Scientific Area (RBSSA).
The regulation marked the first time TPW commissioners have used the proclamation process to protect habitat.
Redfish bay, a shallow, highly productive body of water straddling the Aransas Bay and Corpus Christi Bay systems in the Coastal Bend, boasts the state's northernmost extensive stands of sea grasses. Anglers' success here has led to a surge in the area's popularity, and the fragile seagrass meadows - they cover about a third of the 32,000-acre portion of the bay that has been designated a state scientific area - are showing the effects.
"This area is number one for guided fishing trips, and receives the second highest pressure along the Texas coast for private boat anglers," said TPWD Coastal Fisheries Biologist Faye Grubbs. "Visitors outnumber locals two to one."
In a recent study, more than half of randomly selected areas in the bay showed evidence of propeller scarring. The trenches destroy the grass, fragment habitat, channel tidal movement and sometimes take years to recover.
"A seagrass meadow supplies everything that many marine organisms need. It provides food for grazing animals at the base of the food chain, surfaces to cling on for small crawling critters, shelter and hiding places for small invertebrates and fish, and ambush points for the larger predators and game fish," said Dennis Pridgen, another Coastal Fisheries biologist. "For them it's the nursery, the roof over their heads and the grocery store all rolled into one."
When the TPW Commission voted on the new rule in November 2005, commissioners chose the least restrictive option - one that focused on changing boater behavior and creating a new appreciation for the value of seagrass habitat.
"What we're trying to do is really get boaters to think about what they're doing out in the water," Grubbs said. "The responsibility is on the boater to know the area he's fishing in, and also protect and preserve some of the habitat that supports the fish that he's fishing for."
Web Pages: Seagrasses
The regulation marked the first time TPW commissioners have used the proclamation process to protect habitat.
Redfish bay, a shallow, highly productive body of water straddling the Aransas Bay and Corpus Christi Bay systems in the Coastal Bend, boasts the state's northernmost extensive stands of sea grasses. Anglers' success here has led to a surge in the area's popularity, and the fragile seagrass meadows - they cover about a third of the 32,000-acre portion of the bay that has been designated a state scientific area - are showing the effects.
"This area is number one for guided fishing trips, and receives the second highest pressure along the Texas coast for private boat anglers," said TPWD Coastal Fisheries Biologist Faye Grubbs. "Visitors outnumber locals two to one."
In a recent study, more than half of randomly selected areas in the bay showed evidence of propeller scarring. The trenches destroy the grass, fragment habitat, channel tidal movement and sometimes take years to recover.
"A seagrass meadow supplies everything that many marine organisms need. It provides food for grazing animals at the base of the food chain, surfaces to cling on for small crawling critters, shelter and hiding places for small invertebrates and fish, and ambush points for the larger predators and game fish," said Dennis Pridgen, another Coastal Fisheries biologist. "For them it's the nursery, the roof over their heads and the grocery store all rolled into one."
When the TPW Commission voted on the new rule in November 2005, commissioners chose the least restrictive option - one that focused on changing boater behavior and creating a new appreciation for the value of seagrass habitat.
"What we're trying to do is really get boaters to think about what they're doing out in the water," Grubbs said. "The responsibility is on the boater to know the area he's fishing in, and also protect and preserve some of the habitat that supports the fish that he's fishing for."
Web Pages: Seagrasses