Category

Red Drum

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, the redfish, or red drum, was in the limelight both in the kitchens of Chef Paul Prudhomme, and in the Texas Legislature. Alarmed at its popularity and apparent decline, sport fishermen were successful in persuading the state to ban the commercial fishery in 1981. In the years since, the redfish has fortunately rebounded, but it is unclear if its troubles were actually due entirely to the commercial fishing pressure, or if habitat loss, pollution, and hurricane impacts might have been in play too.

Interviews

Narrator: Art MorrisTitle: Picket LineDuration: 00:02:07Date: February 24, 2023Art Morris worked on the coast as a fisheries biologist for Texas Parks and Wildlife for over 35 years. Here he recalls the contentious times in the early 1980s when commercial fishing for red drum was barred by the State, reserving the fishery for recreational anglers. Narrator: Paul SwacinaTitle: Put and TakeDuration: 00:03:27Date: December 16, 2022Paul Swacina, a Corpus Christi attorney and long-time angler, expresses his concern about the put-and-take model of fishery management, where captive-bred fish, such as red drum or spotted sea trout, are introduced into Texas' bays and estuaries, running the risk of out-competing or interbreeding with the wild fish. He worries that this approach poses the risk of a collapse in the wild fishery, much as what's been seen in the captive-reliant Attwater's prairie chicken population.