Texas recreational anglers are playing an important role in efforts to increase state hatchery production of southern flounder, and state fisheries folks are looking to those anglers for additional help in collecting live flounder for use as brood stock.
“We have some really good public partnerships that help make a lot of our work possible,” said David Abrego, director of Sea Center Texas, the Lake Jackson hatchery and research facility where Texas Parks and Wildlife Department's flounder culture work is based.
Some of that help is economic. Some is more fun — catching flounder and donating them to the hatchery.
The Texas chapter of the Coastal Conservation Association has donated $30,000 to Sea Center for purchase of specialized equipment used in the flounder production project, and recently helped with the purchase of a specialized shallow-water boat to be used to help collect flounder brood stock and other on-the-water flounder program work.
Anglers participating in the Lute's Marine Chocolate Bayou fishing tournaments have provided the flounder stocking program with both money and sorely-needed live fish for use as brood stock.
The Lute's Marine events are “family-oriented tournaments for the not-so-serious fisherman,” said tournament organizer Bryan Treadway.
Along with donating a portion of entry fees to Sea Center's flounder program (about $2,000 over the past couple of years), the tournament focuses on providing TPWD with live flounder for use in the hatchery. Tournament anglers have provided about 100 live flatfish to Sea Center.
With four scheduled tournaments this year — the first set for April 24 — the Lute's Marine tournament hopes to provide even more live flounder to the hatchery, Treadway said.
TPWD can use those fish.
“We have about 300 brood fish, now.” Abrego said. “We want to get that up to about 600. That's where fishermen can really help us.”
Anglers who catch flounder, have the equipment (live-well, aerator) to keep them alive and are willing to haul the fish to the hatchery are welcomed to contact Sea Center (979-292-0100) and offer the fish to the program.
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