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Saturday, Oct. 3, 1998
Party's over for snapper-seekers in '98
Federal moratorium means party boats in Gulf can catch no more
By DAVID SIKES
Staff WriterPORT ARANSAS -- Party boat operators like when their customers see red.
Red snapper, that is.
They are easy to catch, tasty and popular with anglers, particularly winter Texans.
But thanks to an unprecedented three-month moratorium on snapper fishing in the Gulf of Mexico, the docks at Port Aransas won't see red until Jan. 1, 1999, when the season reopens.
Until then, party boats will chase other species, such as ling, king and amberjack. And those species are migratory, which can make them more elusive than snapper in winter.
``Sure it makes me angry,'' said Steven King, an Arlington angler about to embark on a semiannual deep-sea fishing trip at Dolphin Docks. ``We planned this trip six months ago and now we find out we can't catch any snapper. It's pretty disappointing. But no way were we going to cancel. Hopefully we'll catch some shark, tuna or ling.''
Federal wildlife officials closed the snapper season from Sept. 30 through Dec. 31 because biologists say snapper populations in the Gulf of Mexico are declining.
The officials say that recreational anglers have caught their quota of snapper for the year, while commercial snapper fishing remains open.
Anglers and party boat operators dispute the federal findings, saying snapper fishing has never been better in Texas.
During the last fishing trip at Capt. Kelly's Deep Sea Headquarters before the closure, 42 people caught their limit of red snapper. That's 168 fish.
``Does that sound like the red snapper population is in trouble?'' asked Sherrie DeBord, an employee at Deep Sea Headquarters. ``If they want to shut down the season, do it in the summer. We don't snapper fish between May and September.''
During winter, many towns along the Gulf coast depend on tourism and offshore fishing to keep up sales during the traditionally slow season, said Port Aransas Mayor Glenn Martin, who owns Woody's Sport Center.
``Snapper is the mainstay of the party boat trips in winter,'' Martin said. ``So it'll definitely affect them. But it'll impact the hotels and restaurants, too. Until they start yelling and screaming, the law won't be changed.''
But party boat operators say they aren't that worried. They believe there's enough fish in the sea to keep most of their customers happy.
What they fear is that misinformation about the closure will hurt business.
``A lot of people have called because they think we're not going fishing at all,'' DeBord said. ``That's scary. Red snapper is just one of about 20 species we can target. We'll be out there fishing every day.''Post your comments about local news eventsFront Page || Main Index || News || Business || Texas || South Texas Outdoors || Birdwatching || Sports || Entertainment || Selena || Education || South Texas Attractions || World Wide Web