Port Aransas South Jetty (Port Aransas, Tex.), Vol. 7, No. 29, Ed. 1 Thursday, January 5, 1978 Page: 2 of 8
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PAGE 2
SOUTH JETTY
JANUARY 5, 1978
Editorial
Time for Fair Taxing
Another year has passed and there is still no agreement
among the three local governing agencies, the City, the Water
District and the School District, for joint collection of taxes
through a local office. The current system, in which the county
tax collector is contracted by each agency to serve as collector is
inefficient in terms of prompt return of tax dollars to the
agencies, as well as expensive when the contractor collects a per-
centage fee for delinquent collections which came to him through
no efforts of his own. And, even more expensive when the con-
tractor assesses additional charges for compiling lists of delin-
quencies that he should have been providing all along as part of
his fee.
A local joint agency would make incoming payments
immediately available to the proper agency, as well as be able to
keep up-to-date payment records on all taxable properties. In
addition, the theory is that a local agency would improve col-
lection rates for each agency, just by making it more convenient
for individuals to make their payments.
In no way can we, or should we allow the collection system
to remain in such a disorientation that the dependable taxpayer is
at the mercy each year (through the assigned tax rate) of those
consistent delinquents who apparently will not pay their due taxes
until either their property is sold or they are forced to payment
through legal means.
Delinquencies to the three local agencies are now at the level
where one counts in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. Yet,
there are still no collection efforts being made. The issue has
been stalled repeatedly by promises from the contracted collector
to provide delinquent lists. And the issue of a joint collection
agency for the three local governments seems to bog down each
time the question arises concerning the fair and proportionate
share of the collection expense each should be assessed.
It is time to have each of the local governments commit to
fair taxation, meaning each property holder must pay his rightful
taxes in order to keep from penalizing those who do pay their
share on time. The agencies must resolve their differences and
provide a system that is fair to all constituents.
Another Good
Year For
Whoopers At
Aransas Refuge
The outlook definitely seems
brighter for the whooping crane,
an ancient, majestic breed that
first flourished 500,000 years ago
but in this century has teetered
precariously on the brink of ex-
tinction.
The latest report received by
the Texas Parks and Wildlife De-
partment from the Aransas Nat-
ional Wildlife Refuge near Corpus
Christi is that 61 adults and nine
»
young have arrived at their win-
tering grounds. This total of 70
birds beats last year’s count of 69,
all of which were adults.
Therefore, more adults yet may
arrive this year in Texas. A
spokesman at the Aransas Refuge
said there still is time for strag-
glers; the last one turned up on
Dec. 20 last year. Also, one more
young bird may be en route
south, since 10 were sighted in
Canada this year.
Besides this wild population,
flying the traditional migratory
route, there are additional whoop-
ers elsewhere in the country. The
turnaround in the species’ status,
since the low point of only 14 on
the Texas coast in 1939, is a fine
example of cooperation between
man and nature.
A decade ago, federal biologists
began taking some whooper eggs
from their nesting grounds to
hatch in incubators in the Patux
ent Wildlife Research Center in
Maryland. Problems were encoun-
tered in raising this breeding
flock, but now there are 24 in
captivity in Maryland, two in San
Antonio and three at Baraboo,
Wisconsin.
A boid innovation in 1975 was
designed to establish a second
wild flock. Whooper eggs were
placed in sandhill crane nests at
Grays Lake National Wildlife
Refuge in Idaho, with the hope
that the sandhills would become
foster parents. They have proved
to be excellent ones, raising the
young and guiding them on the
winter migration to New Mexico.
This year, the third of the pro-
gram, three young survived hatch-
ing and the journey to the win-
tering ground, along with four
adults from the previous two
years
Adult whooping cranes are all
white with black wingtips, and
grow to a height of some 4‘/2 feet,
with wingspread of approximately
seven feet. In flight, their long
legs are extended and easily
visible. Juveniles are rust-colored.
When they are in residence at
Aransas, from October to mid-
April, visitors come by the thou-
sands hoping for a glimpse of the
famous birds. The best time to
view the cranes is at the start of
breeding season in mid-March.
The males then put on quite a
show, bowing and twirling and
making jumps five feet high.
Carbon Black
Plant Closing
The Ashland Chemical carbon
black plant, between Aransas
Pass and Rockport will close down
the middle of this month for an
indefinite period of time. Accord-
ing to company officials, reopen-
ing of the plant that employs 62
workers will depend on market
conditions.
A number of years ago, the
plant was sued for damages
caused by the great plumes of
black smoke pouring from the
stack and settling over a large
area. The black plume also
became well known to shrimpers
navigating back to port from far
out in the Gulf. A plant employee
devised a means of cleaning up
the stack emissions, resulting in
increased plant recovery as well
as pollution abatement.
Carbon black is used in auto-
mobile tires and other rubber
products as a reinforcing agent.
Licenses Pay
For Fisheries
Programs and
Conservation
Fisheries management is a
year-round program, and the new
Aug. 31 expiration date for fishing
licenses should provide better
year-round support for these
programs, Texas Parks and Wild-
life Department officials believe.
Bob Kemp, director of fisheries,
said the state’s fishermen may
appreciate the “one expiration
date’’ concept after the initial ad-
justment period.
“Our statistics indicate that a
lot of fishermen were confused by
the ‘year from date of purchase’
plan of renewals, and wound up
paying fines when a warden asked
to see their fishing license. Now,
all licenses expire on the same
date, Aug. 31, leaving less room
for confusion,” Kemp said. Kemp
added that the main reason for
the changeover is financial —
license sales had slumped some-
what under the old system
because the average fisherman
purchased a license only about
every 15 months.
“Each fisherman is getting less
for his $4.50 when sales decline
like that, because we’ve had to
cut back programs when it
happens,” he said. “Our fisheries
program stocks about 28 million
fish of a dozen species every year
in Texas waters for sport fisher-
men,” Kemp said, “and this kind
of effort requires continuous, 12-
month-a-year financial support to
keep going.”
The new expiration plan went
into effect Sept. 1, 1977, but
those who bought a license after
June 1 will have a valid license
through Aug. 31, 1978. Those
bought prior to June 1 will expire
one year from the date of pur-
chase.
Kemp said some fishermen
have complained that if, for in-
stance, they purchase a license
next June, they will get only three
months’ benefit from it before
expiration. “If he only fished in
June it cost him $4.50 . . . but it
would have cost him the same
$4.50 if he had fished every
month since the previous Septem-
ber,” Kemp reasoned.
Whether you fish once a year or
dozens of times, the annual cost
would still be the same, he
pointed out. “But the Aug. 31
expiration plan, we believe, will
help us maintain the high level of
fisheries programs needed to keep
Texas fishing some of the best in
the nation,” Kemp said.
Letter
Your front page story of the
ship grounding (South Jetty, 22
December) caught my eye and, I
might add, strained my gullibility.
Before leaving Port Aransas this
past fall, I had spent the previous
five years measuring — not
estimating — currents, both in
the channels and over the inner
continental shelf off the central
Texas coast. Much of my work
was carried out in the winter
months. My findings do not
support the idea of a six-knot
current.
In two separate studies near the
Standpipe (five miles offshore),
the current at mid depth never
got above 1.3 knots over a total
sampling period of 86 days. In
November-December of 1975, cur-
rents at the Gulf platform, about
three miles off Access Road No.
2, never got above 1.1 knots
during a 43-day study. Last year
about this time, current speeds
never exceeded 1.1 knots at a site
seven miles off Cedar Bayou
Fishermen
Obey Ban On
Weekend Use
Of Nets and
Trotlines
Law enforcement officials of the
Texas Parks and Wildlife Depart-
ment said commercial fishermen
along the Gulf Coast have
achieved almost total compliance
with the new weekend ban on
trotlines and nets.
Game wardens patrolled the
major fishing areas in boats and
airplanes the first two weekends
(Nov. 11-13 and Nov. 18-20) and
gathered in a surprisingly modest
number of illegal nets and trot-
lines.
The new law, with a few
exceptions, prohibits the use of
trammel nets, gill nets, drag
seines and trotlines between the
hours of 1 p.m. Friday and 1 p.m.
Sunday each week, and it affects
coastal waters in 14 regulatory
Sheffield is new
Director
Governor Dolph Briscoe an-
nounced the appointment of Frank
H. Sheffield, Jr., as Staff Director
of the Natural Resources Council.
The Natural Resources Council
was created by the Sixty-fifth
Legislature earlier this year. The
Council is composed of the state-
wide elected officials and board or
commission chairmen of 24 state
agencies with jurisdiction related
to natural resources and envir-
onmental issues.
The Council is responsible for
coordinating all natural resources
policies of the State and for pro-
viding a forum of communication
between state agencies on natural
resources issues affecting Texas.
The Council will make recom-
mendations to the Governor and
the Legislature on improved
administration of natural resource
programs, standardized data col-
lection and streamlined permitting
processes.
A principal concern of the
Council is the identification of
issues related to the protection of
coastal resources of the State and
the development of recommenda-
tions to the Governor and Legisla-
ture on approaches to ensure wise
use of coastal areas, the Governor
said. The Council is expected to
play an important role in the final
development and implementation
of a coastal management program
pursuant to the Federal Coastal
Zone Management Act.
during a 47-day study. In fact, the
strongest currents I have ever
measured were this past August
off Port O’Conner — 1.8 knots, as
Hurricane Anita was moving
westward further offshore. My
studies are, of course, limited, but
taken together they do seem to
establish a pattern. Namely,
southerly flow of up to 1.5 knots,
perhaps, should be expected in
the winter months. But not six
knots! That is twice the normal
speed of the Gulf Stream.
Also puzzling is the term
“conflicting winds and currents,”
used by the Marine Inspection
Office. “Southerly” currents are-
n’t in much conflict with “north-
easterly” winds (blowing toward
the southwest).
I will accept any number of ex-
cuses for running aground, but
not one based on a six-knot
current, with or without a fol-
lowing wind. Sounds like some
red-faced fellow trying to pass the
buck.
/s/Ned P. Smith
Vero Beach, Fla.
counties.
The ban is designed primarily
to reduce commercial fishing
pressure on red drum (redfish),
which have been on the decline in
recent years.
One netter in the corpus Christi
Bay area was fined $100 and faces
possible loss of 16 nets after
being arrested by wardens on the
first weekend.
Very few tagged trotlines were
picked up, and most were
abandoned, officers said.
The counties affected by the
new law are: Aransas, Brazoria,
Calhoun, Cameron, Jackson, Ken-
edy, Jefferson, Kleberg, Mata-
gorda, Nueces, Orange, Refugio,
San Patricio and Willacy.
Jeff Messinger
District Agent
On December 12, 1977, Jeff
Messinger was presented to the
Aransas and San Patricio County
Courts by Lin Wilson, District
Extension Agent.
He was selected from nine
applicants to fill the Bi-County
Extension Marine Agent’s job
formerly held by Ralph Rayburn.
Messinger assumed his position
December 16, 1977. He is a native
of San Antionio. He received a BS
degree from Middle Tennessee
State University. His work experi-
ence includes three years with the
National Marine Fisheries Service
(NMFS) as a fisheries reporting
specialist where he collected
statistical data pertinent to the
shrimp and finfish lab at Port
Aransas, Texas where he partici-
pated in all phases of the research
programs. Jeff and his wife Pat
have two children and have lived
in Fulton for the past year and a
half.
Rayburn is now working as
Executive Director of the Texas
Shrimp Association.
CCSU Opens
Corpus Christi State University
offices opened at 8 p.m., Tues-
day, January 3, 1978. Registration
for the Spring semester begins
January 12; late registration con-
tinues through January 18.
Course schedules are available
on the CCSU campus and at all
Corpus Christi Public Libraries.
Owner - Editor: Steve Frishman
SOUTH JETTY is published
every Thursday by the South Jetty
Publishing Co., Port Aransas,
Texas. Subscription rate is $10.00
per year. 15 cents by the single
copy.
Subscription and Office Manag-
er: Mary Lou Hursh.
Address all correspondence to:
South Jetty Publishing Co.
P.O. Box 1116
Port Aransas, Texas 78373.
Office: 201 E. Cotter Avenue,
Port Aransas, Texas, Phone 749-
6377.
Display advertising deadline,
Monday, 12 noon, the week of
publication.
The publisher will gladly correct
any erroneous statement regard-
ing corporations, firms, or individ-
uals, when called to his attention.
Second Class Postage is paid at
Port Aransas, Texas.
$
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Frishman, Steve. Port Aransas South Jetty (Port Aransas, Tex.), Vol. 7, No. 29, Ed. 1 Thursday, January 5, 1978, newspaper, January 5, 1978; Port Aransas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth623724/m1/2/?q=%22%22~1: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Ellis Memorial Library.