I can toss that one now. Here's a press release from Padre Island National Seashore that just came. It looks as though a handful of drum liners, commercial flounder giggers and crabbers will have to seek other waters to make a living. This may not seem important, except to a handful of commercial fishermen. But this decision to enforce existing rules that prohibit commercial fishing within the boundaries of a federal park is a pretty big deal, according to PINS Superintendent Jock Whitworth.
Nobody seems to know why the regulation has never been enforced.
This law does not apply to fishing guides, who will be required to have an incidental business permit if they do business within park boundaries. For the portion of the island between eight miles south of the JFK Causeway and roughly Baffin Bay the boundary generally runs from the east bank of the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway to one-eighth mile into the Gulf of Mexico. This means that a considerable sliver of the Laguna Madre is off limits to commercial fishermen. It also means guides who fish those waters must get a permit from PINS for a nominal fee. Call 949-8173, extension 233, for a map or to obtain a permit.