Thursday, October 23, 2014

Texas Seagrass Rules Show Good Results

"Save the seagrass. Save the fish." That's the bottom line for regulations effective September 1, 2013 to ban the uprooting of seagrass with a boat propeller in Texas coastal waters. This is the one-year anniversary of the law which applies to all seagrass meadows (See a map of coastal seagrass meadows). No areas are closed to boating due to this regulation.

Biologists continue to study the impact of a similar rule which has applied to the Redfish Bay State Scientific Area (RBSSA) since 2006. Propeller scars in that area near Rockport have dropped 45%.

Seagrass is critical to good fishing. Marine organisms depend on it for survival - for food, shelter, and oxygen. Seagrass provides habitat for some favorite recreational and commercial species, such as red drum, black drum, and spotted seatrout.

To avoid uprooting seagrass, LIFT your motor, DRIFT with the current, POLE with a push-pole, or TROLL using a trolling motor when in shallow waters. Watch your prop wash; it should be white, not brown.