Texas Administrative Code › Title 31 - NATURAL RESOURCES AND CONSERVATION › Part 2 - TEXAS PARKS AND WILDLIFE DEPARTMENT › Chapter 57 - FISHERIES › Subchapter N - STATEWIDE RECREATIONAL AND COMMERCIAL FISHING PROCLAMATION › Division 1 - GENERAL PROVISIONS › Section 57.972 - General Rules

Current through Reg. 49, No. 28; July 12, 2024
(a) There are no
					 public waters closed to the taking and retaining of fish, except as provided in
					 this subchapter.
(b) Game fish may
					 be taken only by pole and line, except as provided in this
					 subchapter.
(c) The bag and
					 possession limits set forth in this subchapter do not apply to the possession
					 or landing of fish lawfully raised under an offshore aquaculture permit issued
					 under Subchapter C of this chapter (relating to Introduction of Fish,
					 Shellfish, and Aquatic Plants).
(d)
					 Fish caught in federal waters in compliance with a federal fishery management
					 plan may be landed in Texas.
(e) In
					 Brewster, Crane, Crockett, Culberson, Ector, El Paso, Jeff Davis, Hudspeth,
					 Kinney, Loving, Pecos, Presidio, Reeves, Terrell, Upton, Val Verde, Ward, and
					 Winkler counties, the only fishes that may be used or possessed for bait while
					 fishing are common carp, fathead minnows, gizzard and threadfin shad, sunfish
					 (Lepomis), goldfish, golden shiners, Mexican tetra, Rio Grande cichlid, and
					 silversides (Atherinidae family).
(f) There is no open season on porpoises,
					 dolphins (mammals), whales, or sawfishes (Pristis pectinata and P.
					 pristis).
(g) It is unlawful:
(1) for any person to take or attempt to take
					 fish by any means, or at any time or place, other than as permitted under this
					 subchapter;
(2) for any person to
					 possess fish within a protected length limit or in greater numbers than as
					 permitted under this subchapter;
(3) for any person, while fishing on or in
					 public waters, to have in possession fish in excess of the daily bag limit or
					 fish within a protected length limit as established for those waters;
(4) for any person to land by boat or person
					 any fish within a protected length limit, or in excess of the daily bag limit
					 or possession limit established for those fish;
(5) for any person to use game fish or any
					 part thereof as bait, except for processed catfish heads used as crab-trap bait
					 by a licensed crab fisherman, provided the catfish is obtained from an
					 aquaculture facility permitted to operate in the United States. A person who
					 uses catfish as bait under this paragraph shall, upon the request of a
					 department employee acting within the scope of official duties, furnish
					 appropriate authenticating documentation, such as a bill of sale or receipt, to
					 prove that the catfish was obtained from a legal source;
(6) for any person to:
(A) possess a finfish of any species, except
					 broadbill swordfish, shark or king mackerel, taken from public water (salt
					 water or fresh water) that has the head removed unless the fish has been:
(i) finally processed and delivered to a
					 final destination or to a certified wholesale or retail dealer; or
(ii) finally landed on the mainland, a
					 peninsula, or barrier island not including jetties or piers and is not
					 transported afterwards by boat; or
(B) possess a finfish of any species taken
					 from coastal water, except broadbill swordfish or king mackerel, that has the
					 tail removed unless the fish has been:
(i)
					 finally processed and delivered to a final destination or to a certified
					 wholesale or retail dealer; or
(ii)
					 has been finally landed on the mainland, a peninsula, or barrier island not
					 including jetties or piers and is not transported afterwards by boat.
(7) for any person to
					 use any vessel to harry, herd, or drive fish including but not limited to
					 operating any vessel in a repeated circular course, for the purpose of or
					 resulting in the concentration of fish for the purpose of taking or attempting
					 to take fish;
(8) for any person to
					 release into the public waters of this state a fish with a device or substance
					 implanted or attached that is designed, constructed or adapted to produce an
					 audible, visual, or electronic signal used to monitor, track, follow, or in any
					 manner aid in the location of the released fish;
(9) for any person to knowingly take, kill,
					 or disturb sea turtles or sea turtle eggs in or from the waters of the State of
					 Texas;
(10) for any person to
					 knowingly take or possess a diamondback terrapin (Malaclemys terrapin) or their
					 eggs unless the person is authorized to do so under a permit issued under
					 Chapter 69, Subchapter J of this title (relating to Scientific, Educational,
					 and Zoological Permits);
(11) for
					 any person to take or kill shell-bearing mollusks, hermit crabs, starfish, or
					 sea urchins from November 1 through April 30 within the following boundary: the
					 bay and pass sides of South Padre Island from the East end of the north jetty
					 at Brazos Santiago Pass to the West end of West Marisol drive in the town of
					 South Padre Island, out 1,000 yards from the mean high-tide line, and bounded
					 to the south by the centerline of the Brazos Santiago Pass;
(12) for any person to take, kill, or possess
					 more than 15 univalve snails (all species), to include no more than two of each
					 of the following species: lightening whelk, horse conch, Florida fighting
					 conch, pear whelk, banded tulip, and Florida rocksnail;
(13) for any person to fish for any species
					 of reef fish as defined in 50 C.F.R. Part 622 unless the person:
(A) is also in possession of a descending
					 device or venting tool that is rigged and ready for use; and
(B) deploys the descending device or venting
					 tool on all fish exhibiting signs of barotrauma (a condition caused by
					 expansion of gases inside a fish, such as the stomach coming out of the mouth,
					 bulging eyes, bloated belly, and/or distended intestines) that are:
(i) released following catch; and
(ii) are reef fish as described in this
					 paragraph; or
(14) for any person to:
(A) purchase or use more finfish (red drum)
					 tags during a license year than the number and type authorized by the
					 commission, excluding duplicate tags issued under Parks and Wildlife Code,
					 §
													46.006;
(B) use the same finfish tag for the purpose
					 of tagging more than one finfish;
(C) use a finfish tag in the name of another
					 person;
(D) use a tag on a finfish
					 for which another tag is specifically required;
(E) catch and retain a finfish required to be
					 tagged and fail to immediately attach and secure a tag, with the day and month
					 of catch cut out, to the finfish at the narrowest part of the finfish tail,
					 just ahead of the tail fin;
(F)
					 have in possession both a Red Drum Tag and a Duplicate Red Drum Tag issued to
					 the same license or saltwater stamp holder; or
(G) have in possession both an Exempt Red
					 Drum Tag and a Duplicate Exempt Red Drum Tag issued to the same license
					 holder.