By Richard Schaffhausen
Shane Bonnot, Advocacy Director CCA Texas, was the featured speaker at the Brazoria chapter of Texas Master Naturalist meeting on November 8 at the AgriLife building in Angleton. Her topic was “Redfish Wars – Past and Present.”
Bonnot stated that as far back as 1881, recreational fishermen were concerned about the overharvesting of redfish along our coast. Introducing a monofilament line for commercial nets severely impacted the redfish population. Nets were cheaper and more effective as they could haul in 6,000 to 8,000 pounds of redfish. Recreational fishermen continued to raise the alarm.
Several bills were passed from 1935 on but were ineffective primarily because enforcement was lacking. Finally, in 1981, the Texas House of Representatives passed House Bill 1000 (aka the Redfish Bill), which permanently prohibited the sale of red drums caught in state waters. This measure alone ended the commercial harvest of red drums in Texas. One interesting note: in 1978-1979, over 75 miles of netting was confiscated from the Texas mid-coast bays.
In other meeting news, John Boettiger, membership chairman, reported that Kim Calhoun and Gina Summers had certified, and Ed Barrios, Kim Calhoun, Jerry Eppner, Carolyn May Monie, and Marlon Nation had recertified. Members must have eight hours of advanced training and 40 volunteer hours to recertify.
This year to date, members have impacted 4,905 adults and 21,789 youth through outreach programs and educational programs such as the “Birds of Prey” programs presented at area schools, Brazoria County Summer Library Programs, and the Discovery Environmental Education Program for area 4th and 7th graders at Brazoria NWR.
