First time ever! CCA Texas presents Concert for Conservation
Massive Oyster Restoration Slated for Galveston Bay
Governor Perry approves $3.2 million for oyster enhancement project
Houston, Texas – After months of process and effort, Governor Rick Perry has submitted a $3.2 million Coastal Impact Assistance Program (CIAP) grant project to US Fish and Wildlife for final approval. This grant request was created by CCA Texas in partnership with Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD). CCA Texas has pledged an additional $500,000 to increase the scope of this enormous reefing project. Read More
CCA Texas Reefing Program Builds on Success
Organization’s commitment to marine habitat continues to grow
Houston, Texas – CCA Texas recently committed $100,000 to a new 160-acre nearshore reefing site located out of Packery Channel near Corpus Christi. This reef will be built in approximately 70-feet of water and will provide vital structure and easy angler access from popular offshore ports including Port Aransas and Corpus Christi. Read More
The 4th Annual Port Mansfield Beach & Cut Cleanup Saturday, March 17, 2012
Sign up and free breakfast at 7 am, at the Port Mansfield CC Pavilion.
A free box lunch will also be provided. That evening come celebrate and enjoy drinks and chili at PELICAN’S PUB.
We need boat captains willing to provide ferry service, volunteers to do the work and sponsors to help pay for food and lodging. Read More
Vancouver Reef Expansion Splashes Down
CCA Texas partners with state to add 250 tons of materials to reef of Freeport
Texas anglers now have more fishing room at Vancouver Reef after more than 250 tons of concrete and granite reefing material were added to the popular fishing site this week through a cooperative effort of CCA Texas and Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD). The addition of the material marks the single largest addition to the reef since the original Liberty ship was sunk at the site off Freeport in 1976.
“This project is a win-win situation for anglers and for the resource. Creating reef habitat is not just about building biomass, it is also about creating a destination for recreational anglers to access the resource,” said John Blaha, director of CCA Texas’s Habitat Today for Fish Tomorrow (HTFT) program. “We learned a great deal during this project and will be looking to use that experience to build more habitat and create better angling opportunities for the future.”
Read More
CCA Texas and Coastal Bend Bays & Estuaries Program Host Volunteer Marsh Grass Planting Day
“Protecting and restoring fish habitat is critically important”
Between 70 and 80 volunteers showed up on Saturday, December 4, 2010 to take part in a volunteer marsh grass planting day at the Nueces Bay marsh restoration project located between Portland and Corpus Christi along U.S. Highway 181’s Portland Causeway. This project, led by Coastal Bend Bays & Estuaries Program (CBBEP), will eventually restore approximately 160 acres of lost marsh. CCA Texas’s habitat initiative, Habitat Today for Fish Tomorrow (HTFT), has contributed $24,000 to the project. These funds include $10,000 raised by CCA Texas volunteers in the banquet fundraising process, $10,000 secured by HTFT from the FishAmerica Foundation and $4,000 secured by HTFT from West Marine. Read More
CCA Texas Takes Bold Step in Opening Cedar Bayou
$500,000 pledge kicks off multi-million dollar fundraising campaign
Aransas County, Texas – The Coastal Conservation Association Texas recently announced a $500,000 matching grant to initiate a new push in generating the funding to open Aransas County’s Cedar Bayou and Vincent Slough. After decades of negative impacts from siltation and low water flows, an estimated $6.5M effort will be required to open the vital connection from Mesquite and Aransas Bays to the Gulf of Mexico. Read More
CCA Applauds Council Action to Protect Gulf Habitat
Anglers have high hopes for debate over value of artificial structure
A motion made at the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council meeting last week in Mobile, Alabama, could be the first step to protecting what has been regarded as the largest man-made reef in the world – the vast forest of energy-related structures in the offshore waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Dr. Bob Shipp’s request to have Council staff clarify the definition of what qualifies as artificial structure could pave the way for rigs and other vital reefs to be classified as Essential Fish Habitat. Read More
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED!
TPWD’s 11thTexas Abandoned Crab Trap Removal Program runs from Feb 17-26. During the 10 day period, all Texas bays will be closed to crabbing with crab traps, and any left in the bay will be presumed to be abandoned and considered litter under state law, thus allowing volunteers to legally remove any found crab traps. Read More
CCA Texas / HTFT contributed $24,000 to the Nueces Bay 160-acre marsh restoration project, led by Coastal Bend Bays and Estuaries Program (CBBEP).
This project is currently in the construction phase of work and will eventually restore approximately 160 acres of lost marsh along the Portland Causeway. CCA Texas has contributed $10,000, and through the efforts of the HTFT initiative, has secured another $10,000 from the Fish America Foundation and $4,000 from West Marine’s Marine Conservation Grant program. Read More
OYSTERS ROCKEFELLER
4 dozen oysters and shells / 2 boxes frozen spinach, cooked and cleaned / 1 bunch green onions / 1 bunch parsley / 1 stalk celery / 1 pound butter, melted / 1 1/2 cup breadcrumbs / 3 T worcestershire sauce / 1 T anchovy paste / salt to taste / dash of tabasco / 1/2 t anise seeds
/ 3/4 cup breadcrumbs / 3/4 cup parmesan / rock salt
Preheat oven to 450. Blend all greens in food processor. With machine on, gradually add melted butter and breadcrumbs. Add Worcestershire, anchovy paste, salt, Tabasco, and anise. Place rock salt on cookie sheet, oyster shells on salt, 1-2 oysters per shell. Put oysters in oven without sauce until they start to curl. Drain water from each shell, then cover each with Rockefeller sauce. Sprinkle with cheese and breadcrumbs and bake at 450 until bubbly and brown. Serve hot.
