New regulation for those of you that hunt/boat the coast

Goes into effect Sept 1st.

http://legiscan.com/TX/text/HB3279

H.B. No. 3279




AN ACT
relating to the uprooting of seagrass plants; creating an offense.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter A, Chapter 66, Parks and Wildlife
Code, is amended by adding Section 66.024 to read as follows:
Sec. 66.024. SEAGRASS PLANTS. (a) In this section,
"seagrass plant" means a flowering marine plant of the species:
(1) Cymodocea filiformis, known as manatee grass;
(2) Halodule beaudettei or Halodule wrightii, known as
shoal grass;
(3) Halophila engelmannii, known as star grass or
Engelmann's seagrass;
(4) Ruppia maritima, known as widgeon grass; or
(5) Thalassia testudinum, known as turtle grass.
(b) A person may not uproot or dig out any rooted seagrass
plant from a bay bottom or other saltwater bottom area in the
jurisdiction of this state by means of a propeller, except as that
uprooting or digging out may be authorized by a commercial license
or permit issued by the department.
(c) It is a defense to prosecution under this section that a
person:
(1) anchors a vessel within an area containing
seagrass plants and uproots a seagrass plant;
(2) uses an electric trolling motor within an area
containing seagrass plants and uproots a seagrass plant; or
(3) operates a vessel in a manner consistent with the
acceleration required to reach and stay on plane.
(d) A person who violates this section or a proclamation of
the commission under this section commits an offense that is a Class
C Parks and Wildlife Code misdemeanor.
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2013.


______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House


I certify that H.B. No. 3279 was passed by the House on May
10, 2013, by the following vote: Yeas 129, Nays 14, 2 present, not
voting; and that the House concurred in Senate amendments to H.B.
No. 3279 on May 23, 2013, by the following vote: Yeas 118, Nays 28,
2 present, not voting.

______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House

I certify that H.B. No. 3279 was passed by the Senate, with
amendments, on May 20, 2013, by the following vote: Yeas 30, Nays
1.

______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: __________________
Date

__________________
Governor

"1) anchors a vessel within an area containing
seagrass plants and uproots a seagrass plant"

Its impossible to anchor in grass and not uproot. Guess this means I am getting a power pole...

Y'all can thank the wonderful folks at the CCA for this new law

Hope your decoy anchors don't haul in to much grass

Good thing that Ike screwed up and the general health of Galveston bay is poor enough that there isn't much of those species around.

Guys further south are screwed. I know there were already some pretty strong protections for the grass beds, I guess this is in addition?

Are they going to mark of those areas, or do you just have to know?

people with mud motors better watch it lol

Where is that hunting in a Paddle boat thread.................

Air boat sales will go through the roof
Wal must be a psychic

The galveston bay system didn't have much seagrass before ike. The water here is too turbid and deep in most areas to promote seagrass growth.

I should probably add I was talking about the time immediately preceding Ike. Say, 20-25 years to present. Not historically.

You got that one out of context.

(c) It is a defense to prosecution under this section that a
person:
(1) anchors a vessel within an area containing
seagrass plants and uproots a seagrass plant;

Thank you, I will, I don't hate the environment.

lol I got mine

interesting

You want to fix the bay then stop daming all the rivers. All of y'all don't need that drinking water or a place to water ski. And who needs those pesky commercial fisherman out there feeding people!! Screw them i just want more redfish for me!!! Go CCA!!!!

The law basically states don't prop scar the grass....really that is about it. If you see anything more than that, you could use some work on reading comprehension. As a local fisherman and avid duck hunter, I do not see how this is a bad thing.

Sure seems to be some ruffled feathers from North TX over this. What's with the misguided anger of CCA?

I can see being a psychic in my future maybe:)

I don't see what the big deal is. I don't like tearing up grass as it stands anyway. Only a dumb arse will sit there and grind up a prop trying to get on top in hallow water. I always just motored over to where I can get on top without tearing things up.

My thoughts exactly. I think this will be an overall good decision.

x2. Seems like more grass would offer better habitat for the wintering birds anyway. There is nothing in there about decoy wieghts uprooting grass - only props. It was a good move.

I'm with jeff on this one. How many people has the CCA put out of a job?

As long as your not a commerical fisherman CCA loves you if, you are a commerical fisherman man just know the CCA enviormentalist don't like you and are lobbing against you and want your permit pulled!!!

Well since I live in north texas and also have a place on the coast, ill put my two cents in.

Putting recreational wants above ones lively hood is stupid... and self absord.

Its not just the sea grass laws, we have had those in place in estas flats and redfish bay for some time now. Its the other things that CCA does like pretty much shutting down the commerical floundering, stopping all new shrimp and flounder permits, lobbying for snapper season in texas waters to mirror the feds..etc.

CCA and DU are nothing more now then lobby groups that have turned enviromentalists might as well call them the Sierra Club


As far as the sea grass goes, I don't care what boat you are in wethers its a majek redfish or shallowsport you will eventually catch grass. I'm not talking about just being a dumbarse and spinning up in 8 inches, talking about motoring into a spot, or even just getting up in 24" you will eventually caught some grass, that shouldn't be ticket worthy.

this legislation pretty much shut down the land cut, redfish bay, Estes flats, a 1/3 0f the upper LM.. to any thing but airboats, poling skiffs and kayaks

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6THD4oySILU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKF6R5QFLgo

read the post on them

Some big talk of saving a couple hundred jobs (which are great when sustainable), without mention of the thousands of folks that rely on a healthy ecosystem for tourism and recreation.

I assume this law is designed for the dumbarses mentioned, and those that think propscars aren't that big of a deal. Hopefully not enforced everytime a piece of grass is accidentally trimmed.

You really want that up to interruption? Should be awareness, and self regulated, not law

Ya a few hundreds jobs...... including every commerical saltwater fisherman in the US. Not just TX. They tried to ban commercial Mullet and Merkel in severl southern states. ..luckily they got defeated. What about them trying to reverse the FL law not requiring shore fishing licenses. CCA is a feel good org, supported by everyday recreational fisherman which unfortantly have zero idea of the legislation CCA pushes. CCA is no different then DU now an over zealous eco group

Its iconic how we have so many enviormentalist on this thread still running 2 stroke outboards/mudmotors, foam or plastic decoys, lead decoy weights, lead dove shot..etc

I think you mean ironic, bobo, not iconic.

Anywho, do you like redfish? Thank the CCA they are still around because the commercial guys ran that population into the ground by over harvesting.

Does the CCA get everything right? I'm sure they don't. No organization ever does. But, if you don't think the entire texas fishery would be in a much worse state without the CCA then your blind.

I don't know what to think about the controversial information that is spread on the internet. I always thought of CCA as a good thing, from crab trap clean up to buying back shrimper's licenses.

I wish they would buy back the freakin crabber's licenses. Everywhere you go you have to look at old rotton traps, lines and floats from the crab traps. I don't like it. I like it even less when your prop gets fouled by an abandoned trap. Now that we bought the airboat I will be jioining the crab trap clean up.

It pizzes me off so bad to see all that mess at the bay I would do something about it. If there was a petition to end all crab fishing, without a license buy back, I would sign it right now. I don't even care if they make a living doing it. They certainly don't care about littering on every shore line in the bay. Therefore I certainly don't feel the need to buy back their license.

I know exactly what the CCA has done, I know exactly what they do, i had friends that have served on the board, not chapter, state boards. The success of the redfish has less to do with commerical guys and more to do with simple awareness both commerical and recreational.

CCA should focus on what they started up as, a grassroots org focused on awareness and habitat improvements. Not a lobbyist group. Wouldn't you rather them use all their money on projects such as cedar bayou, then lining the pockets of elected officals to shut down the commericals guys?

If your in water shallow enough to see crabs traps with a proped motor via the new law...you better not stop to fish because with the new law you will most likely caught grass when you leave. Just an FYI.

I saw 4 big arse IC bouys washed up on the king ranch shore line last week.. should we fine the state or feds or pull their permits?

Was CCA not a big part of banning gill nets on the coast?

Gill netting has been illegal since 1981, CCA was founded in 1977

They were tiny back then. Raised awareness not lined pockets

Way too much to talk about without getting too much into politics and derailing this thread, but I think it needs to be a law, otherwise people will continue to tear up grass.

The same reason we have limits on game for commercial and recreational harvesters, there will always be people who take as much as they can. Especially when it comes to profit, regardless of education and awareness.

The same reason this iconic environmentalists drives a 2 stroke outboard, uses lead shot for dove, etc.

I'm aware it may be harmful but I'll probably keep doing it until there are laws to stop it. I still support conservation organizations, and they are critical in preserving future opportunities and resources. If lobbying is required to get that done so be it, but the politicians that need bribed to get stuff done are the ones that should be criticized. I may be considered an "environmentalists" by some, but in reality all outdoorsman are the moment they purchase their license or equipment.

You got to admit iconic envoirmentalists has a certain ring to it.


My opinion is CCA should focus on new habitat projects. Not politics and commercial fisherman. In the last 20 years I've never not been able to gigg a limit of flounder in under an hour. Now with the reduction more like 30mins. Ironically now commerical flounders have to concentrate on the upper end of size to make their haul worth the gas. The equivalent to only keeping 26" us trout or bull reds.

I think the grass laws should be self imposed just like estes and redfish bay. Not law over the entire bay system. Awareness goes a long ways.

Anybody that fishes the bay or flats regularly knows that to truly conform to the law. .. 99% of the flats are now only accessable via kayaks and poling skiffs. That's a bad law IMO

Ill leave this thread alone now said my 2cents

Oh one last thing don't think airboats are 100% safe either I can show you airboat trails by goose island were all the guys run to avoid big water

Wall - Why don't I start a group that buys up cop licens so we limit the number of high n tight haircut cops. I mean heck there is just to many cops and we don't need any more.

All y'all that just think of how the rules and laws set by CCA effect your sport fishing, but I see them in just about the same light as the hippie environmentalist that crawl over your fence and find a bug or lizard on your farm or ranch then tell you that you can't ranch it or farm it anymore because people in town want to enjoy this bug or lizard, so eff you and go find another way to make a living. Wait till some group comes after your lively hood then get back to me

Well all I can say is good luck enforcing this new law. We're already short handed on Game Wardens. Most of the grass flats in my neck of the woods (Estes Flats & Red Fish Bay) are already protected "no prop zones" but that doesn't stop most people. Every time I'm out fishing I see people screaming through the flats & many of them are guides. I don't like seeing the grass get tore up & I never do it on purpose, but I also know it's still gonna happen like it or not.....and as far as the "we should ban the crabbers" comment, that's just plain stupid. Yes I know, you don't care if that's their livelihood or not....Wow. Most of the "old" crab traps out there are lost because people don't know how to watch out for the floats or navigate around them & run one over. Folks will cut the line & carry on instead of dragging it to the bank or tying it off to the next trap so the crabber doesn't lose it. We like eating crabs but lets not fish for them.

I don't really worry about the guys on plane mot of them can run in 6-8 and never touch bottom. Its getting back up in under 24" that gets people in bind.

I run Estes and redfish a lot. Lots of places I can get up in estes in the summer time (winters different). But redfish bay different story. I can get in and run, but can't get up with out spinning up some grass so I normally drift out into the IC.

GW are easy to find skinner, just put in at birdisland and run south. .usually three just right at the cut through to run the shore at tide gauge

The three down there are really good guys IMO, very nice, quick and to the point

Yeh Bobo, I know a few of our local Game Wardens and they're all good guys. I do a little pig hunting with the son of one of them. I know lots of the skinny boats can run 6-8" but prop wash will still leave a trail if it's shallow enough, that's why they passed the zones. I like to pull the motor & drift myself, or use the trolling motor. You don't hurt anything with a trolling motor unless you're too low. IMO if the state is going to be serious about implementing this and enforcing it, they need to dredge out more guts & cuts for people to drift into & get out of. But then, you're destroying more habitat by dredging so.... I dunno. I do love running the flats, used to a lot when I was younger. Loved sitting on the bow & watching the redfish take off in all directions LOL. but we couldn't stop because we knew we wouldn't be able to get out.

Ya the state guys are a great group, great all around. Couple of them are pretty funny. One of them had me rolling two weeks ago.

To me making it a law for the entire bay is over the top. If they get hard core about it think about all the places that get shut down to the majority of boats. And I'm sure as hell not boating to the land cut in a poling skiff..lol

Those lower laguna guys are screwed via the letter of the law...80% of that fishery is done to boat traffic.

The longer I am a cop the more I agree with this statement

I love eating crab. I love fishing for crab. But I can do it without trashing an entire bay system. I have been running the coast my whole life. I don't care who is the blame for the crab trap mess. It is truly a mess if you have a massive recovery effort every year to clean up the trash created by crabbers. All of that is volunteer. I say we tally the cost and pass it off to commercial crab fishing licenses. Why should we have to look at it all year and then clean it up because they are too trashy to do it themselves. You want to see trashy, just drive by a crabbers front yard. If they don't mind trashing their own front yard, they surely don't mind trashing the bay.

Man Wall did a craber steal your girlfriend or something?? I'm glad you don't hate people who make their living on dry land as much as you hate watermen.

I love watermelon

Be glad he doesn't hate welders ramball. Most welders have pipe and junk in their yard and always have a unfinished pipe fence. He might just as soon put you out of business

I tried to start building a pipe fence but my subdivision code enforcer wouldn't let me. Needless to say he also nixed the cattle guard/overhead entry sign I was planning on installing where the sidewalk is

That's to bad. Must be a guy that hates welders and wants to run em out. Prayers sent ramball.

Calm down there Francis. I would imagine my (dislike) for the crabbers comes from a lifetime of watching them trash the bay. If a crabtrap is not collected it becomes a marine life killing machine. It is no different than if a group came to hunt with you and expected to leave their trash scattered around your pond. You own the pond, we all own the bay.

I don't see where groups form to go to the bay to have welding rod clean up day. I can't believe we actually have programs, with hundreds of volunteers, to clean up after these mutts. Forget crab trap clean up day. Get rid of the crabbers or have them conform to a standard that does not include seriously littering a bay system.

It should be simple. You get a permanent tag on your traps, day 1 of the season. For every tag you don't turn in at the end of the season is $100 fine. That fine could be earmarked for only bay projects.

That's an excellent solution..... until an anti- crabber goes cutting floats!!!!!



Now back to topic.... please support resending this law and open the flats back up to boating

Hold on skyppy! The original post was by John and I didn't read his intentions for posting was to get the law retracted. It seemed more of an informative angle not a rage against the machine.

I think I might be a fan of the new law, I think I might not. That will be for me to figure out. I can say this, every time I see a guy digging up the bay floor because he had to prove how shallow his flats boat can get up on a plane, It ticks me off. I ran a 15 foot scooter for 12 years. There is no need to tear up the bay like that. Fly over the bay and look at the prop scars. It is senseless.

I should of added a smiley to the above, I wasn't moderating I was messing with you.

Not disagreeing with you on prop scars, I'm just saying the letter of the law closes A VERY big portion of the flats in the texas bay system, including much of the LLM and all of estes and redfish bay in the winter.

My point in posting on this thread is to counter that everything that's done in the name of Conservation and the Envoirement isn't always sensable legislation.

We have to becareful with feel good legislaton because the general idea of it sounds great, so its easily passed and not easily retracted.

If I hadn't of said I was anti CCA, chances are I might of gotten a little more buy in to what I'm saying. ... which shows their influence pretty damn well and that should be scary

Oh I didn't take offense or even get my hackles up. I was enjoying the fact that after a long time I finally go to zing you. As slight a zing as it was, it was fun. You and I see eye to eye on just about everything outdoor related.

Ain't hard to clown on the clown

True dat!

My prediction is commercial fishing will go the way of commercial hunting in my lifetime.

Just too many people on the earth and not enough resources. Commercial hunting destroyed a lot of game and I just can't see a way commercial fishing doesn't do the same.

Tragedy of the commons, etc.

yep but people got to eat one day the food(resources) will be gone that's true,then what????

Chaos. Pure Chaos.

[/quote]yep but people got to eat one day the food(resources) will be gone that's true,then what???? [/quote]

Soylent green of course!!

Wall you are entirely to anti crab to call yourself a outdoorsman. When your nor shocking dogs are you hugging trees?

He said texas crabs not maryland!!!

I would have to agree with you. I can't figure out which basket I should put my thoughts in, so I put them into the ones I feel make the most sense. Just because yall told me CCA is a bad thing does not mean I should blindly follow. I would imagine you would more appreciate me joining your cause, only after I am educated on all issues within, as that would lend more credence to your cause. Right?


It would be greatly appreciated if you would kindly respond to the analogy, in which your private property is mentioned, prior to changing the subject.

They farm the sea. You can't be pro hunting yet anti commercial fishing. It's like being a rancher that's a vegan

I don't know about that. I know lots of fanatical hunters that don't think there should be commercial hunting guides on public water and I don't think any hunter/pro hunting would want the days of market hunting to return. Then for fishing on public water, you have recreational fishing, commercial fishing guides, and commercial fishing. And of course the other recreational users. Bird watchers, recreation boaters, hikers, and so on. When it involves land/water that is owned collectively by the public, everyone is going to be anti something. There are going to be conflicts of interest in how each sees their land/water being used. It is always going to be difficult for rule makers, and lawmakers to find a balance between recreational users and commercial users sharing the same public land/water. Always... Unfortunately when a conflict gets unmanageable or too many wheels start squeaking, the solution they often come up with anymore is not to further regulate the group or activity that is perceived to be causing the most strain on the public resource or habitat, but to simply end it completely.

Well put sniper

They days of market hunting were the days of no laws or limits, were the individual sportsman was just as guilty as the market guys.. I think that's hardly the case now.

Now we have our own funded conservation groups using the same negative type peta campains to shut down or highly limit the commerical guys, because some feel it infringes on their recreactional past time fun.

If we are going to lay down the law on the commeriall guys then we need to lay down the law on the rec guys. How about closed spawning seasons for reds and trout, complete closer of flounder in Nov. Lower limits on reds and trout, tigher slot limits and no live bait.

Ironically I've heard those porposals before... you know all in the name of conservation

That's twice. Mark it down.