The fishing started petering out in 1957 or '58, and I just didn't feel right taking people out anymore. I was guiding full-time, and by 1959, just five years after I started, I had to quit. We had cleaned the rivers out. The gar were gone. Little has been done to foster healthy populations of alligator gar in the 40 years since Fox quit guiding.
Populations continue to decline throughout the fish's range.
The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission formed a task force in 1999 to determine the fish's status in the state. The study team has found very few, except those taken by commercial fishermen. The Alabama Division of Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries funded a study led by Allyse Ferrara of Auburn University, who is trying to determine age and growth patterns, define the reproductive cycle, and examine movement patterns. In the early 1990s, a decrease in numbers was observed after several years of unregulated commercial and recreational fishing. In 1992, a two-fish bag limit was legislated, ending commercial fishing for alligator gar in Alabama.