Here Are The Details On the Proposed Speckled Trout Trophy Tag

The Texas Parks & Wildlife Commission is set to make a decision on a trophy speckled trout tag at their March 28 meeting in Austin.

Here’s the details directly from them.

The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (the department) proposes amendments to 31 TAC §§53.2, 53.3, 53.6, and 53.18, concerning License, Permit, and Boat and Motor Fees. The proposed amendments would provide for the issuance of the Exempt Angler Spotted Seatrout Tag, the Bonus Spotted Seatrout Tag, and duplicates of those tags, and establish the fee associated with the various versions of the tag.

 In another rulemaking published elsewhere in this issue of the Texas Register, the department is proposing an annual retention limit of one spotted seatrout of 30 inches or greater (“oversized” spotted seatrout) per appropriately licensed saltwater angler per year. The rules would allow retention of the oversized fish via a spotted seatrout tag, which would be included at no cost with the purchase of an appropriate saltwater license or saltwater endorsement. Those rules also would provide for an Exempt Angler Spotted Seatrout Tag and Bonus Spotted Seatrout Tag, which could be purchased separately from the department. As explained in the preamble to that proposal, the department is attempting to facilitate the recovery of spotted seatrout populations from extreme population impacts resulting from Winter Storm Uri in February, 2021, while still providing some opportunity for the public to harvest “trophy” spotted seatrout.

The amendments proposed in this rulemaking would make changes necessary to include the spotted seatrout tag in the various licenses and license packages, provide for a Bonus Spotted Seatrout Tag, provide for issuance of duplicate tags for lost or destroyed tags, provide a mechanism for persons who are exempt by statute or rule from license requirements to obtain tags, provide for the use of digital versions of the tags, and establish the tag fee ($3.00).

You can make comments on the tag here through March 27.