Temporary Fishing Closure in Place on Texas Coast during Freeze

Jan. 1, 2018

Media Contact: TPWD News, Business Hours, 512-389-8030

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AUSTIN – The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department has issued a temporary closure to saltwater fishing along parts of the Texas coast to protect resources during freezing weather conditions. The closure takes effect at 6 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 2 and extends through 10 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2018.

In addition to killing game fish in shallow bay waters, a hard freeze can also cause surviving fish to congregate in a few deeper areas where they become sluggish and prone to capture. Those are the areas the department has temporarily closed.

"The high mortality that a freeze can cause may deplete fish stocks for years," said Robin Riechers, director of TPWD’s Coastal Fisheries Division. "Protection of the surviving fish during the few days when they are especially vulnerable to capture would likely shorten the time period for overall recovery of coastal species, especially spotted sea trout."

Texas has about two million acres of bays and estuaries susceptible to freeze. There were three major freezes during the 1980s, including one in 1989 when the temperature at Brownsville dropped to 16 degrees and an estimated 11 million fish were killed in the freeze event.

Anglers and coastal residents can report any freeze related fish kills or large numbers of sluggish or cold-stunned fish by contacting TPWD’s Law Enforcement Communications office at (281) 842-8100 or (512) 389-4848.

Coastal Areas Closed To Fishing During Freeze Conditions Effective 6 AM, Jan. 2, 2018 through 10:00 PM, Jan. 3, 2018
County	Nearest City	Site Name	Description
Aransas	Aransas Pass	City by the Sea	All waters and canals of the City by the Sea subdivision west of the GIWW and a line beginning at a point on the entryway seawall (27° 57.08" N; 97° 06.05" W) extending across the entrance to a point (27° 57.04" N; 97° 06.06" W).
Aransas	Fulton	The Racquetball	All waters and channels of the Racquetball Club development Club west of line beginning at a point on the entryway seawall (28° 05.94" N; 97° 01.73" W) extending across the entrance to a point (28° 05.96" N; 97° 01.73" W).
Aransas	Fulton	Kon Tiki	All waters and canals of the Kon Tiki development west of a line beginning at a point on the entryway seawall adjacent to the end of the fishing pier (28° 06.04" N; 97° 01.49" W) extending across the entrance to a point (28° 05.99" N; 97° 01.49" W).
Aransas	Rockport	Bahia Bay	All waters and canals of the Bahia Bay subdivision west of the GIWW and a line beginning at a point on the entryway seawall (27° 57.63" N; 97° 05.66" W) extending across the entrance to a point (27° 58.65" N; 97° 05.66" W).
Aransas	Rockport	Cove Harbor	Entire harbor west of the GIWW and a line beginning at a point on the entryway seawall (27° 59.37" N; 97° 04.38" W) extending across the entrance to a point (27° 59.42" N; 97° 04.35" W).
Aransas	Rockport	La Buena Vida	All waters and canals of the La Buena Vida subdivision west of the GIWW and a line beginning at a point on the entryway seawall (27° 57.31" N; 97° 05.89" W) extending across the entrance to a point (27° 58.36" N; 97° 05.89" W).
Aransas	Rockport	Little Bay	All waters of Little Bay and connected waters west of Nine Mile Point on Key Allegro (28° 01.98" N; 97° 01.52" W), including Blevins Channel south of the entryway seawall (28° 03.05" N; 97° 01.87" W), Leggett Channel west of the entryway seawall (28° 01.80" N; 97° 01.84" W) and all canals within the Key Allegro and Harbor Oaks subdivisions.
Aransas	Rockport	Palm Harbor	All waters and canals of the Palm Harbor subdivision west of the GIWW and a line beginning at a point on the entryway seawall (27° 58.05" N; 97° 05.36" W) extending across the entrance to a point (27° 58.03" N; 97° 05.36" W).
Aransas	Rockport	Rockport Harbor	Entire harbor north of the entryway seawall and a line beginning on the entryway seawall (28° 01.19" N; 97° 02.89" W) extending across the entrance to a point (28° 01.19" N; 97° 03.00" W).
Aransas	Lamar	Sea Gun Marina	Entire harbor north of the entryway seawall and a line beginning Harbor at a point on the entryway seawall (28° 08.06" N; 97° 00.40" W) extending across the entrance to a point (28° 08.11" N; 97° 00.42" W).
Calhoun	Port O’Connor	Army Hole	The enclosed waters between the Matagorda Island State Park docks and Pringle Lake.
Cameron	Brownsville	Brazos Santiago Pass South Jetty	Gulf of Mexico from and including the Brazos Santiago Pass south jetty along the beach for one half statute mile and out from shore for 1,000 yards.
Cameron	Port Isabel	Point Isabel	Area from shore out to a line from the high point of the Queen Isabella Memorial Causeway on the northwest and the end of the old causeway on the southeast including the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway bounded by the Queen Isabella Memorial Causeway on the north and the Port Isabel Swing Bridge on the south. Does not include the adjacent canal in Port Isabel.
Galveston	Dickinson, Texas City	Moses Lake	From Moses Lake to the Tide gate, to include the navigational channel up to the northern shoreline of Dollar Bay (area corresponds to 29° 26.00" N to 29° 27.00" N). Dollar Bay and Moses Bayou are not included.
Galveston	Galveston	Offats Bayou	All of Offats Bayou east of Marker 22.
Matagorda	Matagorda	Matagorda	Entire harbor from the entrance to the Gulf ICWW.Harbor
Matagorda	Palacios	Shrimp Basin	Entire shrimp basin from the entrance to Matagorda Bay, including all turning basins.
Nueces	Corpus Christi	Padre Island	The area is bounded on the north by Packery Channel, on the subdivision west by the ICWW and on the south by a line drawn due east from the intersection of the New Humble Channel and the ICWW to the mainland (along 27° 35.25" N).
Orange	Bridge City	Entergy Outfall	Entire canal – from the mouth of the canal at the Neches River Canal to the power plant.
San Patricio	Aransas Pass	Conn Brown	Entire harbor north and west of the GIWW and a line beginning from the Harbor at a point on the entryway seawall (27° 53.96" N; 97° 08.09" W) extending across the entrance to a point (27° 53.82" N; 97° 08.13" W).
Willacy	Port Mansfield	Port Mansfield	Entire harbor from the corners of the bulkheads on either side of Harbor to the harbor mouth.