The latest CCA Texas Habitat Today for Fish Tomorrow (HTFT) project is the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s (TPWD) Corpus Christi Nearshore Reefing site. The project involves pyramids that are being deployed in Corpus Christi. They are currently staged, and once the first load of concrete materials are deployed, the pyramids – which CCA Texas helped pay for – will go out next. There are 470 pyramids, and these will be deployed offshore in a TPWD permitted reefing site. Read More
Pledge of $5,200 will Support Interns for 2014
Houston, Texas – As part of its ongoing commitment to conserve and enhance the state’s marine resource, Coastal Conservation Association Texas has announced that it will fund two Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) Law Enforcement (LE) Summer Internships for candidates who are on the career path to become Texas Game Wardens.
$100,000 contribution ensures the vision of permitted sites off every port in Texas
Port O’Connor, Texas – Coastal Conservation Association Texas recently announced support for the creation of a nearshore reefing site out of Port O’Connor as the next step in its goal to create a vibrant reef system in state offshore waters. A key element in this overall reefing plan is having designated areas out of every major port on the Texas coast to place artificial reefs. CCA Texas’ Habitat Today for Fish Tomorrow Program (HTFT) has funded a $100,000 joint effort with Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) to create a new nearshore reefing site.
$75,000 contribution from CCA Texas
makes an impact on the project’s initial phase
Corpus Christi, Texas – The Department of Life Sciences at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi and the Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies began the restoration of eight-acres of oyster reef, in two different locations, on Wednesday, Aug 28, 2013.
The project is coordinated by Dr. Jennifer Pollack, Assistant Professor of Marine Biology and Gail Sutton, Assistant Director of the Harte Research Institute as part of the “Sink Your Shucks” initiative.
Game Fish for All
CCA Texas is featured on page 14-15 of the special 50th Anniversary issue of the Texas Parks & Wildlife magazine. The article “Game Fish for All” discusses CCA and CCA Texas’ work through supporting research and partnerships to keep the gulf and bays stocked for anglers. The article takes a look at the work that has been done in the past four decades.
This issue of the magazine can be viewed online here: www.tpwmagazine.com/digital/2013/jul_50
Gulf Senators file Gulf of Mexico Red Snapper Conservation Act of 2013
WASHINGTON DC (6-13-2013) – Sens. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) and Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) filed legislation today that seeks to transfer responsibility for the management of Gulf red snapper to the Gulf states. The legislation (S.1161)comes two months after the governors of four Gulf states released a joint letter to the leadership of the U.S. House and Senate stating that federal management of Gulf red snapper is “irretrievably broken,” and calling for a coordinated Gulf states partnership for red snapper management.
“The red snapper fishery is tremendously complicated and has lurched from crisis to crisis under federal management with no end in sight,” said Chester Brewer, chairman of the National Government Relations Committee for Coastal Conservation Association. “We commend Sen. Landrieu for taking the lead to work through the complexity of this issue. She invested a great deal of time to craft a balanced, workable solution that allows the Gulf States to develop a new management approach.”
Federal management of red snapper reached a new low in 2013 when the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council announced the shortest season ever, even though the snapper population is booming. In response, Louisiana, Florida and Mississippi announced various actions to join Texas’ long-standing rejection of federal regulations in state waters, prompting federal authorities to implement punitive measures for those states. Using an emergency rule process, the National Marine Fisheries Service reduced the recreational season to nine days off Louisiana and 12 days off Texas. Both states sued and a federal court overturned the action. The recreational season is now set at 28 days Gulf-wide.
“The reality is that federal fisheries management has a credibility problem. Red snapper has been under federal management for decades and our season this year is 28 days. No one should be satisfied with these results,” said Brewer. “We are grateful that Sen. Landrieu, Sen. Wicker and the Gulf governors heard the concerns of their citizens and pledged to find a better way.”
The Gulf of Mexico Red Snapper Conservation Act (S.1161) would establish a coordinated Gulf states partnership for red snapper management in which the states would fully comply with a management plan approved and adopted by the Gulf States Marines Fisheries Commission with minimal oversight from the federal government. The partnership would be similar to how striped bass are managed on the East Coast through the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission.
“State-based fishery management has proven to be far more effective, and has engineered some of the greatest marine conservation victories in the country,” said Brewer. “We have faith in the states to be philosophically capable of not only conserving and managing robust fisheries, but also providing greater access to those resources for their citizens.”
For more information about this effort, be sure to visit http://www.cbbep.org/projectsbaffinbay.html
Department’s $250,000 commitment, coupled with $100,000 from CCA National habitat program, brings restoration project closer to reality
AUSTIN, TX – Ongoing funding efforts to restore Cedar Bayou have received a significant boost with a $250,000 commitment from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) and a $100,000 contribution from the Building Conservation Trust, CCA’s national habitat program. The funding will go to support the work being done by Aransas County, Coastal Conservation Association Texas and other partners to open the pass between Matagorda and San Jose Islands. Read More
Superstars highlight 2nd Annual CCA Texas Concert for Conservation
Dwight Yoakam, Robert Earl Keen headline May 18 event
HOUSTON (March 7, 2013) — Tickets are on sale now for the second annual Concert for Conservation scheduled for Saturday, May 18, at Sam Houston Race Park. This year, Coastal Conservation Association Texas (CCA Texas) has partnered with Sam Houston Race Park to put together a superstar lineup that will offer fans a wide variety of country music from featured artists Dwight Yoakam, Robert Earl Keen, Hayes Carll and Ray Willie Hubbard. Read More
Texas Coastal Management Program awards grant to re-open natural pass
AUSTIN — Texas Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson today announced a $200,000 grant to help re-open Cedar Bayou, a natural pass between the Gulf of Mexico and the Aransas Bay complex.
“This is good news for the whooping cranes, as well as everything else that depends on a healthy bay system,” Patterson said. “Everything alive in the Aransas and Mesquite bay systems will benefit once this pass opens and the natural dynamics are restored.”
The $200,000 grant awarded today is in addition to the $518,000 the General Land Office previously awarded for work to reopen Cedar Bayou.
The project will straighten Cedar Bayou and connect it with a channel from Vinson Slough near the beach of San Jose Island. Dredge sand from the channel will be placed in a semi-circle offshore to bolster a natural delta and to diffuse waves that tend to plug the mouth with sand. This will re-establish the hydraulic connection between the Gulf of Mexico and the Aransas/Mesquite bay system and re-establish the life-cycle migration route for a variety of marine species, as well as enhance tidal flow to thousands of acres of tidal wetlands adjacent to Cedar Bayou and Vinson Slough.
The Cedar Bayou grant application was evaluated by representatives from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, the Railroad Commission of Texas, the Texas Department of Transportation, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, the Texas Water Development Board, the Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board, the Texas Sea Grant College Program and the Texas General Land Office. The General Land Office granted final approval of the project as part of this year’s Coastal Management Program grant cycle.
CCA Texas Makes Historic Contribution to Marine Science
CCA and Harte Research Institute Partner to Create Sportfishing Science Center
Houston, Texas – Coastal Conservation Association Texas recently pledged $500,000 toward the creation of a Sportfishing Research Center within the Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi. Read More
UPDATE: Aransas County Secured Additional $1,750,000 for Cedar Bayou. Brings total amount raised to $3,255,000
Marine conservation group provides $400,000 for upper coastal marsh restoration projects
Houston, Texas – The Coastal Conservation Association Texas recently announced $400,000 in habitat project funding. In cooperation with Ducks Unlimited, CCA Texas will fund $200,000 of marsh shoreline revitalization along the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway (GIWW) near Sargent, Texas. Additionally, in cooperation with Galveston Bay Foundation, CCA Texas will provide an additional $200,000 of funding for shoreline protection and marsh restoration efforts along the Oyster Lake shoreline of West Galveston Bay.
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