b. Sport Fishing

The Texas Gulf coast offers excellent opportunity for

saltwater sport fishing.

There are numerous large bays, lagoons, and

a lengthy expanse of Gulf beach which attracts sport fishermen, both

residents of the area and tourists.

An attempt was made to quantify the saltwater sport fishing effort in Texas in terms of participation rates and pounds of catch. Data from a 1968 Texas Household Demand Survey, done by the Comprehensive Planning Branch of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department 1/, estimated the total participation in saltwater sport fishing in activity days and by recreation planning region. The total participation was estimated to be 6,498,450 activity days. The recreation planning regions most pertinent to this sale are regions 25, 27, and 28, with participation in saltwater sport fishing amounting to 3,288,039

activity days (see Fig. 33).

Quantification of saltwater sport fish catch for Texas proved difficult because no comprehensive survey has been conducted. Creel census data were available for some of the coastal embayments; however, these were not recent and were limited to short time periods. Based on existing data from the National Marine Fisheries Service 1970 Saltwater Angling Survey (U.S. Dept. Commerce, 1973) and an unpublished report from the

1/

"Texas Household Demand Survey, 1968", Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, Austin, Texas. Data accumulated in this study will be included in the Texas State Comprehensive Outdoor Recreation Plan scheduled for publication in the near future.

Figure 33.

Source:

Saltwater Sport Fishing Activity Days (AD)

by Recreation Planning Area (boundaries approximate)

1.95

Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife as well as data from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, it was possible to extrapolate and arrive at a gross estimate of the total saltwater sport fish catch as well as an average catch per activity day. It must be stressed that the data available and from which the estimates were made represents different years, different research procedures, and different geographic areas which leaves a large margin for error. Even though the margin for error is great, the estimates are felt to be within the range of probability and represent the best data available.

Saltwater sport fishing was defined for the purpose of the 1970 Saltwater Angling Survey as "all fishing in the oceans, bays, estuaries, and tidal portions of rivers. Freshwater fishing excluded from this survey, was defined as all fishing for freshwater species upstream from tidal areas and in any inland stream, lake or reservoir." The number of geographical divisions for reporting the catches was limited to seven, which were chosen to coincide with biogeographical areas rather than political subdividions. In the 1970 Saltwater Angling Survey, the Gulf of Mexico was divided into East Gulf and West Gulf with the Mississippi River as the boundary. This statement is concerned only with eastern Texas. statistics for both Louisiana and Texas, it was possible to disaggregate the Texas catch and arrive at an estimate of the saltwater sport fishing catch for that state. The saltwater sport fishing effort in Louisiana had been calculated previously based on an unpublished report by the Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife. According to

Although the data included catch

the BSF&W report, the total catch for Louisiana was estimated at

24,270,000 pounds, of which 10,986,000 pounds represented the catch east of the Mississippi River, thus leaving an estimated catch for Louisiana west of the Mississippi River of 13,284,000 pounds. The 1970 Saltwater Angling Survey estimated the total saltwater sport fish catch in the Western Gulf at 151,608,000 pounds. By subtracting the BSF&W estimate for Louisiana from this total, the new catch for Texas amounted to 138,324,000 pounds. According to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department's 1968 Household Demand Survey, a total of 6,498,450 activity days were expended in saltwater sport fishing. Using these data, the average catch per activity day was calculated to be 21 pounds for Texas. combing the BSF&W data for Louisiana (man-days activity in saltwater sport fishing) and the data for Texas, an average catch per activity day for the Western Gulf was calculated at 19 pounds.

By

By multiplying the 21 pound average catch per activity day for Texas, by 3,288,039 (the total saltwater sport fishing activity days in recreation planning areas 25, 27, and 28) we arrive at an estimate of sport fishing catch of 69,048,819 pounds for the eastern Texas coastal

area.

Although the sport fishing effort for Texas seems disproportionately high in comparison with Louisiana, when the factor of accessibility to the coastal areas is considered, the reason for the difference becomes more apparent.

Much of the Louisiana coast is inaccessible

and, because of the isolation, the sport fishing activity is much less than along the Texas coast, most of which is accessible.