NATURAL HISTORY OF REDFISH, ETC., OF TEXAS 213 



are seen by fishermen along Padre Island, and abundant collections of young made by 

 the writer in 1926 and 1927 near the passes indicate the presence of many adults in 

 the Gulf surf. With the opening of Padre Island, modern surf-fishing gear should be 

 employed by the fishing industry to secure the largest catches of fish. While it is 

 recognized that hordes of sharks and other predaceous fish render fishing here more 

 difficult than in the inland bays, such gear as that used along the coast of Florida 

 certainly would make profitable catches at certain times of the year. 



In the above discussion the writer has attempted to present a few recommenda- 

 tions as to practices that he believes will benefit the Texas coastal fishes and fisheries. 

 The proper regulation and development of any fishery, however simple, is a difficult 

 matter, particularly when the many biological and economic factors affecting the 

 fishery change constantly. Some sort of an indicator is necessary to show the trend 

 of abimdance of any particular fish stock. Such an indicator is provided in adequate 

 fishery statistics. Should the redfish stock be overfished, this condition would be 

 reflected in the decline of catch per unit of gear, with the result that effort could be 

 made to rehabilitate the stock. 



The writer urges the passage of a law requiring the collection of statistical data 

 in Texas, so that the future trends in abundance of the various species of food fishes 

 may be discerned more easily than is possible at the present time. There is no way 

 at present to determine the actual annual catch of any particular species of fish along 

 the Texas coast in any locahty, except from statistics collected by the United States 

 Bureau of Fisheries every five years. 



For some time several States have successfully operated s,ystems of collecting 

 fishery statistics, which in their general features might be used advantageoush^ by 

 the State of Texas. The most suitable of these consists essentially in securing original 

 records of the daily catch of each species of fish made by each individual fishing boat 

 or unit of gear. Such a record could be collected easily by providing each dealer 

 with manifolding receipt books, in which the landings or original sales of fish should 

 be recorded. A duplicate copy of the receipt shoidd be the property of the State, to 

 be collected and filed for compilation and analysis. 



The various facts in the life histories of the redfish, black drum, and spotted 

 trout, as presented in this paper, suggest many new lines for biological investigation 

 of the fisheries. The need for scientific research to determine the exact biological 

 relationship between the Gulf of Mexico and the inland waters, the distribution of 

 fish eggs and young prior to their entrance into the bays and lagoons, and the possi- 

 bihties in developing a practical method of artificial propagation of the leading 

 marine food fishes offers an abundant field for study. In conclusion, a condensed 

 summary of the above recommendations is given. 



1. The establishment of minimum and maximum legal size limits for black 

 drum (the minimum length at 8 inches, the maximum at 20 inches). 



2. The opening of Oso and Nueces Bays and Laguna Madre to seine fishing ii;i 

 order to utilize black drum of the more valuable sizes and to prevent the economic 

 waste (in the case of Laguna Madre) of many food fish that now perish as a result of 

 occasional cold weather and excessive salinity. 



3. The opening to all forms of fishing gear of Padre Island Beach along the 

 shores of the Gulf of Mexico in order to utilize the large quantity of food fish occurring 

 in this territory. 



