Port Aransas South Jetty (Port Aransas, Tex.), Vol. 9, No. 31, Ed. 1 Thursday, January 24, 1980 Page: 1 of 8
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NUT ARANSAS
/V'
(*44-«*)
VOLUME 9 - NO. 31 - PRICE 25 CENTS
Shrimp Catch Down - Some
Shrimpers Are Trying Swordfish
A recent report from the
National Marine Fisheries Service
indicates that Texas shrimp land-
ings through November of last
year were off 28 percent from the
siame eleven month period in
1978. Many contributing reasons
for the decline were noted
including high fuel prices, a very
poor production from Galveston
Bay due to earlier fresh water
floods, and fewer out of state
boats landing their shrimp at
Texas’ seven main shrimping
ports. There was no mention of
effects from the Ixtoc 1 oil well
blowout that brought drifting oil
into Texas waters last fall, but a
steady decline in brown shrimp
landings was noted from Septem-
ber through November.
The combined total for Texas
landings, through November was
38.9 million pounds of shrimp, as
compared to the previous year’s
total in the same period of 49.9
million pounds. 1977 was a record
catch year, with 57.9 million
pounds of shrimp landed in Texas
ports.
ON MUSTANG ISLAND, TEXAS
THURSDAY, JANUARY 24, 1980
While showing a catch decline,
ihe Aransas Pass-Rockport-Fulton
area was still second in Texas
landings during the eleven month
period, recording a total of 10.8
million pounds. The 1978 figure
for the same period was 12.2
million pounds. Leading in Texas
landings was Brownsville with
11.8 million pounds, down from
the 1978 landings of 13.8 million
pounds.
Freeport and Galveston showed
the biggest declines in landings,
with totals running nearly 50
percent below those in 1978, and
Port Mansfield, while not one of
the high volume ports, also
showed a decline to nearly half of
its 1978 total.
The heavy fuel pressures and a
declining shrimp catch have
driven some shrimpers to look for
other uses for their boats and
crews. For a few, this has meant
additional investment and training
o enter the business of longlining
n the Gulf for swordfish. For
about $25,000 in equipment, a
shrimper can be converted to a
longline boat by adding a large
winch drum and miles of line and
hooks. For the past two to three
years, swordfish boats from New
England, the primary market area
for this fish, have been working
the Gulf during the winter and
early spring. They then follow the
fish as they move north along the
east coast during the spring and
summer. The few Gulf fishermen
who have entered the swordfish
effort are learning from the
Massachusetts fishermen as well
as experimenting themselves with
gear and fishng methods. Even
for the novices, a two week catch
of over 10,000 pounds of sword-
fish is not unusual, even though
the Gulf fish are generally smaller
than those landed later in the year
off the east coast. Average size
for the Gulf winter catches is on
the order of 75 to 90 pounds,
while the large fish that bring a
better market price sometimes
weigh over 500 pounds. The
market in Boston varies some-
what, but Gulf swordfish that are
shipped there bring about $2.50
per pound.
Swordfish are generally caught
at night in the Gulf on the
longlines that are essentially
submerged trot lines that drift in
the current, having been set out
in the evening and picked up the
next day. The Texas boats, at
present are working what are
considered to be relatively short
lengths of line, ranging from five
to ten miles in length. The
Japanese longliners that until this
year were heavily working the
Gulf, mainly for tuna, fished lines
on the order of seventy miles
long.
The primary problem for fisher-
men with Gulf longlining is the
high catch of sharks which tangle
and often break the line causing a
loss of the line and the rest of the
catch. Experimentation is produc-
ing new methods that reduce the
shark hazard. Among the ap-
proaches tried are setting the
lines at a depth below the near
surface area where the sharks are
generally feed at night, and using
monofilament leaders that will be
cut when hit by a shark, but will
retain other fish.
One ot the continuing com-
plaints about longlining is that it
results in a high incidental catch
of marlin which are a prime sport
fishing target. So far, the Texas
experience in longlining has
resulted in a very low marlin
catch, which is probably a
function of there being few marlin
in the area during the winter
months, but, last week, one of the
boats did catch a spectacular blue
marlin that weighed over 1100
pounds. The other few marlin
catches have generally been white
marlin. There is also some sport
fishing interest in the swordfish,
but this is generally done in the
summer and by few sport anglers.
This slowly growing industry for
Gulf fishermen appears to be one
that will help at least a few
shrimpers stay in business. The
longline gear is designed so that
it can be removed from the boat,
and the boat can easily be
converted back to shrimping gear,
adding diversity to the shrimpers’
store of gear and knowledge.
SPRING FISHING HAS BEGUN OFFSHORE at
the Liberty Ship Reef, about 20 miles off Port
Aransas. A good sign of the coming spring is this
good catch of Warsaw grouper caught at the reef last
Sunday by the party aboard the King Fisher with
Captain Cy Bennett. The boat caught some Warsaw
on Saturday, and Bennett decided to gear up and
really go after them on Sunday. Fishing directly over
the sunken ships produced some nice sow red
snapper. The Warsaw are generally found near the
mud bottom around and between the three ships that
were placed there as a fishing and diving reef by the
Texas Coastal and Marine Council. Warsaw catches
in the area should continue into March or early April.
The next expected run of fish inshore is the drum run
that usually starts sometime in February . During this
run, the drum, ranging up to about 60 pounds, travel
north through Laguna Mad re, spend some time in
Corpus Christi Bay, and then head for the Gulf
through the ship channel. The fish can be caught
either from a boat in the channel or from the channel
bank and jetties.
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Frishman, Steve. Port Aransas South Jetty (Port Aransas, Tex.), Vol. 9, No. 31, Ed. 1 Thursday, January 24, 1980, newspaper, January 24, 1980; Port Aransas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth601556/m1/1/?rotate=270: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Ellis Memorial Library.