184 U. S. BUREAU OF FISHERIES 



been a matter for contention for many years. The following ex- 

 tracts from State reports will give some idea as to the opinions gen- 

 erally held. In 1908 State Commissioner R. H. Wood's report 

 contained this: 



From the east end of Galveston Bay to the Rio Grande we have what might 

 justly be called one long natural breeding ground for fish; a series of shoal bays, 

 protected by outlying islands, which form a barrier to the storms of the Gulf, 

 with bottoms covered by grasses to which fish are sent by nature when in roe. 



Several years later, another commissioner, W. G. Sterret, in a re- 

 port for 1914, said: 



My opinion is, and it is based on the personal observations of those who for 

 years engaged in taking fish for market, that nearly all of our commercial fish, 

 or fish caught for market, breed in the Gulf. For in late summer they are 

 found — redfish, trout, mullet, and even flounders — going to the Gulf when full 

 of eggs. If this be true, or only partly true, the importance of keeping open 

 the ways is apparent. 



Such are the two general theories with regard to the spawning 

 habits of Texas fish. 



The fish, game, and oyster commission of Texas has endeavored to 

 benefit the fisheries by enforcing regulations based upon popular 

 ideas as to the breeding habits of the species. Before the fish and 

 oyster laws of 1925 went into effect Chief Deputy Harry W. Wells 

 wrote letters to various fish dealers along the Texas coast, asking their 

 opinion as to the breeding habits of the fish in their localities. The 

 concensus of opinion was that very few of the inside coves and bays 

 were known to be spawning grounds. An extract from a reply, under 

 date of February 29, 1924, will illustrate the opinion held at Corpus 

 Christi. 



We think, rather, that the great majority of the fish come in from the Gulf, 

 and the amount that spawns and grows in the bays here amounts to an incon- 

 siderable quantity. We have noticed throughout the years when the passes 

 have been opened there has always been a sufficient quantity of fish in the bays, 

 and whenever at any time the passes have filled up or have become shallow it is 

 always at that time that fish become scarce. 



The writer of this did say, however, that the black drum spawned 

 in Oso Bay, appearing in February and leaving about the middle of 

 April. These were big, 20-pound fish and were found in the bay at no 

 other time of year. This, together with the fact that no small fish 

 ever were taken in the larger bodies of water such as Nueces Bay and 

 the Laguna Madre, led to the opinion that whatever fish did seek the 

 inside waters as spawning grounds, frequented small, sheltered 

 bodies of water such as the Oso and Ingleside Cove. 



Another letter from the Corpus Christi section states that if the 

 passes were to be closed tightly and fishing continued no fish but 

 mullet and catfish would be left in the inside waters. This writer 

 says that he used a very small-meshed seine in a great many places 

 in Laguna Madre but could not find the young fish he was looking for. 

 Then he changed his location to the Gulf shore of Padre Island, 

 and, using his words, "at each and every haul netted thousands of 

 miniature redfish, trout, croakers, sheepshead, and even pompano 

 entangled in the seaweed." From this experiment he concluded 

 that the fish spawned outside, and that as soon as the young were 

 able they worked through the passes into the shallow inside waters, 

 where they could feed and find shelter in the long grass. 



