Hard Facts for Rapidly Changing Times

LISTEN: (5 Min, 53 Sec)

 

“Time flies on wings that just get stronger.”

THAT LINE FROM RONNIE JAMES DIO’S EPIC song “My Eyes” always stuck with me but now it has an entirely new meaning. The changes taking place socially, politically, environmentally and technologically are moving faster than anyone could have imagined.

And in the realm of what we address here at Texas Fish & Game, these changes are occurring at such a rapid pace that it’s easy to be confused about what’s really going on with our wildlife and fisheries.

And the number one issue that few are connecting to the problems we face is habitat loss and degradation.

I’ve addressed this in this column and in numerous articles and have now seen it in a way that should concern us and inspire us to take action.

Here are a few key points.

Speckled Trout: Since the freeze of 2021 hammered trout numbers in the lower half of the Texas Coast, much concern has been raised about the species. Emergency regulations were put in place that went back to the long-standing 5 fish limit Sept. 1.

Many were not happy with this. Others were elated.

The thing we have to keep in mind about trout (and all bay dwellers) is that there is no way we’re going to keep producing the same amount of fish with far less habitat. Oh, the water is still there but it’s what lies under the water that counts.

U.S. Geological Survey estimates show that in the northern Gulf of Mexico, seagrass loss in bay systems is between 20 and 100 percent in the last 50 years. That means in the best scenario 20 percent has been lost. In places like Sabine Lake, it’s 100 percent.Seagrass produces trout. Less seagrass means less potential for trout to flourish.

A report by The Nature Conservancy shows that between 50-85 percent of original oyster reefs have been destroyed by a variety of factors ranging from hurricanes, droughts, flood events and development. Less oyster habitat means less potential for trout and other bay dwellers like redfish and flounder to flourish.

Waterfowl: These stats also impact our coastal fisheries but have already proven devastating to waterfowl.

According to the Texas Center for Policy Study, we have lost more than 50 percent of our original 1.2 million acres of coastal wetlands. Thirty-five percent of losses have occurred since 1950. Almost half of Texas estuarine areas are closed, or conditionally closed, to shellfish harvest because of pollution. 

Of the 12.6 million acres of the Blackland Prairie, fewer than 100,000 acres (less than 10 percent) of native sod exist today. A million acres of Coastal Prairie have been urbanized by Houston. Endangered species such as the Attwater’s prairie chicken are on the edge of extinction because of such losses. 

An estimated 16 million acres of riparian (river/stream associated) habitat existed in early Texas. Status: More than 60 percent has been lost to agricultural conversion, timber production, urban/industrial development and reservoir construction. 

Add to that the loss of much of the rice agriculture in parts of the state and it’s easy to see why wintering waterfowl populations (especially geese) are not like they used to be.

Invasive Exotics: Without even giving the staggering stats for habitat loss in the Edwards Plateau, Cross Timbers and even the Trans Pecos, we have the problem of invasive exotics impacting our available habitat.

On the plant front we have common and giant salvinia massively harming our wetlands. Then we have Chinese tallow on the prairies and zebra mussels in many waterways.

Feral hogs are at a minimum of three million in Texas and show no signs of slowing down. Aoudad are at a low estimate of 30,000 beyond the bounds of high fences in the Trans Pecos and Panhandle and impacting natives like mule deer and bighorn sheep.

I give you all of these sobering numbers to inspire you to take action. When we publish an article about seagrass conservation almost no one responds. When we mention trout regulation changes, the response is gigantic.

We have come to a point where if we don’t start addressing the quality of habitat and the outright loss, in 20 years we will have a radically different Gulf Coast from a fishing perspective.

And with waterfowl, turkeys and all species that utilize hardwood bottoms or wetlands, things are not looking good.

There is great work being done. Groups like Ducks Unlimited and Delta Waterfowl are making strides with duck habitat and management. The National Wild Turkey Federation is overseeing great research and habitat enhancement.

The Coastal Conservation Association is hitting habitat loss head on, especially in the area of oysters and making a difference.

And the biologists and technicians with Texas Parks and Wildlife are putting serious work and dedication into all of these issues.

But they need us to get skin in the game and if we already have some we need to put more.

Time is flying like the Millennium Falcon with Han Solo as its pilot, and we need to get as serious about the loss of habitat and its quality as we are changes in size and bag limits.

If we don’t, then we’re at a point where not only will our children pay but so will we.

 

Email Chester Moore at cmoore@fishgame.com

 

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