They raise paddlefish to be released in Big Cypress River below Lake o the Pines. First time in 20 years or so. Even put a tracking devise in them.

I wonder if they floated up yet?

Like all other law enforement agencies, TPWD cannot enforce what is on the books right now. We got illegal netters all over the Texas side down here.. Every day.. Maybe we should start there..

They do not intend to shut down the whole state at one time.. Alledgedly just portions of rivers and lakes when they think spawning is imminent.. But they really have no clue.. Gar can take to spawning any old time.. With out giving 30 days notice..

This will be an enforcement nightmare and a boondoggle of typical government porportions..

There was poorly planned and the execution will be poorer..

But it's coming.. Doesn't matter what the people think.. Only what the Gar Czar wants..

The alligator gar has a very similar life cycle to the paddlefish and sturgeon. That is they are extremely long lived, take a long time to reach sexual maturity and the largest and oldest fish are the mature females which carry the most eggs. The paddlefish and sturgeon have come very close to completely vanishing from the US and in many water bodies they will likely never return. I�m afraid over the last several decades the national trend of the alligator gar is moving in a similar direction rather than away from it. Historically alligator gar were present in 13 states. They are now believed extinct in 3 of those states and now listed as imperiled or critically imperiled in another 7 states.
In Texas they are common on a few bodies of water and a few stretches of rivers upstream from those reservoirs. They are rare on a few more lakes and a few other stretches of river. However they are no longer present in most lakes and most rivers. Most of the decline is due to habitat destruction from dam building. However, it remains to be determined on what impact harvest has on them. In the absence of a complete statewide picture, my preference is that the state err on a conservative managment strategy. However it that means closing entire bodies of water, I would not support that. However, I would support slot lengths or a trophy tag.

I would like to see the studies showing the sexual maturity rate of the alligator gar . I have a hard time believing that they don't breed before they are very old but would like to see some REAL EVIDENCE of this.

http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/publications/nonpwdpubs/media/gar_status_073108.pdf

http://www.wildlifearkansas.com/material...ort%20Final.pdf

http://etd.lsu.edu/docs/available/etd-09012009-084129/unrestricted/DiBenedettothesis.pdf

Consensus seems to be 10-14 years to sexual maturity. Even if it's half that amount that's an eternity compared to most freshwater fish. Still it doesn't tell the whole story. The data to date suggests that the largest individuals in Alligator Gar populations are typically female, and fecundity (the number of eggs produced) is directly related to body size, so the largest fish are likely the females that produce the most eggs. If you are talking about females that can live to be at least 50 years old in some would argue much longer.You need to take that into account in thinking about how long it would take the population to recover. There have also been some points made about "If they state cared, they would stock them". That takes a lot of money and there are other considerations concerning genetics of hatchery fish, but the short answer is that it's much cheaper to manage a wild population than counteract over harvest through stocking efforts.

I think everyone agrees that the current proposal is very vague and would be difficult to enforce. If you don't believe there should be any type of regulation on Gar, however, you are wrong. Many of us here have state our opinions on the survey, and have suggested reasonable alternatives that would cost less and be easier to enforce. If you want to have a say in the matter, come up with an alternative. There WILL be new regulations put in place, whether it be on the 27th or later down the road. It's just a question of what they will be. If you aren't recommending your own proposals, you are wasting your time. My personal preference would be for them to consider the other proposals presented, but if they don't then I approve of the first one.

I think it's funny that the majority of people that have a problem with the proposal are bow hunters and bass fishermen. We have all agreed that bag limits on gar should be relative to the lakes they are in. Rivers, however, are not prime targets for bass fishermen.

I also think it is odd that some of our game fish are not even native to the waters they live in now. Native to the United States, Yes, but not where they are stocked now. Why don't we consider the Gar a game fish, when it is a native fish?

The notion that GG have to be 30+ years old to reach maturity has been debunked. Talk to state biologist's! They have found that GG as young as 3 years will reach maturity and breed. They are doing it at Falcon right now! With favorable conditions, GG will grow to 6' in 3 - 4 years.

As far as age classes, let me see if I can explain it to you...

The survey on the trinity used, mostly, GG taken by bow fishermen. (Many fish were tagged and released in the upper trinity, but they were NOT aged as that requires that the fish be killed) They had approximately 100 samples to age. The chart was broken down into year of birth (estimated). If they aged 1 fish at say 32 yrs, then there must have been a spawn in 1980. If the next oldest was 23, then there was a spawn in 1989. and it goes on for all the samples they have. The fact that they did not have a sample for each year means that they (bow fishermen) did not harvest one of that age class... it does NOT mean there was not a spawn in 6 of 10 years! That assumption was disseminated to the commission and it is BUNK!

Before you ask for proof, re-read Dan Bennet's study. All the findings are there!

If the water ever clears up at Choke so that bow fishermen again target that lake, I truly believe that they will find it JAMMED with 6'+ Gator gar from the major spawn in 2010! BTW - falcon is not the only lake with a shrinking bass population... fishermen at Choke Canyon are finding it very hard to find their quarry as well.

I wonder if there might be a problem there as well? Lower water, less places to hide and an increasing population of hungry GG = less Bass and other game fish?

Nobody has ever claimed that.



Is this the same study where they derived our current harvest rate from?

Can you please link to Dan Bennett's study?

Should we tear down the dams? Paddlefish require current. When dams were built it prevented the current flow they were used too. Now they can't get from the Mississippi to us without crawling over a dozen dams.

BUT yet the state wants to restock them. For what? I dunno?

You can venture up to Oklahoma and tag one a day. Grill it up and enjoy it.

While down in Texas we attach a "priceless" tag on the fish so we can track it.

Just seems a tad silly. Same with the gar regulations. To block off an area.....just seems a little off. It's not a manatee.

Here ya go.. http://www.sdafs.org/alligar/docs/DiBenedettothesis.pdf


Not exactly comparing apples to apples.. This intensive study says 5 years.. They're doing it in three at Falcon.. Seen it first hand..

I will be interested to see the actual study when they publish it. Either way, it will be interesting to read and will probably lead to bag limits being changed on that lake if they determine an overpopulation, which is a good thing. I'm very curious to know if these results will be replicated over large numbers of fish, or if it is the exception to the general rule.

Again, I think we all agree that we approve different limits based on individual lakes. I mentioned that in my suggestions when I did the survey.

Falcon Lake will be host to a pretty intensive study starting this Spring. But the truth of the matter is that we will be just another year farther into game fish depletion by the time they get the study done.. And by the time they act on the information???

Typical government BS.. Let's spend another $100,000 to see if we really have a snake problem.. Oh.. BTW.. Can you pull these fangs outta my [censored]..

So, you want the TPW to do something about the bass in your lake without having the study done, but you think it's wrong for me to ask for the same thing for the Gar in my rivers?

We know that Gar are not the only contributing factor to game fish depletion on Falcon, but I do hope that if they are a significant part then they will act quickly to address the situation. My point is that you are asking for the TPW to do something about your issue, but have a problem with them doing the same thing for mine.

I don't want them to do something about the bass.. I want them to do something about the gar.

I have not championed gar removal in "your" river.. It might not need it..
But they passed the current law without any research on your river or my lake.. That's what gives me heartburn..

My imput has run its course..