Port Aransas South Jetty (Port Aransas, Tex.), Vol. 7, No. 29, Ed. 1 Thursday, January 5, 1978 Page: 3 of 8
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JANUARY 5, 1978
SOUTH JETTY
PAGE 3
Small Tarpon Surviving Along Coast
May Be Cause for Optimism
Remembering some golden mo-
ments from here and there. The
light touch of your hand in my
time of distress. Some trusting
conversations and reassuring
smiles. The mingling of our lives
in the making of our workaday
world exciting and vigorous.
Recalling times and places and
people now joined to the parade
of my happy memories, I’m claim-
ing from you a special New Year’s
gift. For the starting of a new
year or a new day or a new life,
my gift from you is the sharing of
this story from the old year.
The time is the middle of a Sat-
urday morning and the place is a
public tennis court. I’m playing
with an old and beloved friend,
Name of Bill or Willie or Hey,
You.
Two small boys, 10 or 11 or so,
are spectating. One of them — a
talkative, live-wire type — is our
volunteer ball boy. Hustling all
over the place after wayward
tennis balls and tossing them back
to us. Very helpful, and most
unusual.
The other one just stood there.
First on one foot and then the
other. Wanting, I’m sure, to be as
aggressive as his friend. Wanting
to join in, to be a part of the ac-
tivities. Wanting to be included,
but just standing there. Watching.
O, God, how often have I
stood on the sidelines and
watched. Afraid to risk the of-
fering of myself. Shying away
from involvement with You and
your children. For fear they
might not want me. Or that a I
would not measure up to their
standards. Or Yours.
As with many live wires, our
helpful spectator burned brightly
but briefly. Another chum, pass-
ing by, gave a yell and off he
went. To battle a dragon. Or play
kick-the-can.
Bill and 1 were back to chasing
down our own mistakes. Until a
ball rolled in the direction of the
silent, shy one. And he was asked
P& W Surveys
For Crabbers
The iexas Parks and Wildlife
Department has launched a new
study to gather information on the
blue crab. Blue crabs are a prime
commercial saltwater species and
interest in catching them appears
to be growing.
Tom Moore, director of coastal
fisheries, said disastrous blizzards
along the nation’s eastern sea-
board last winter drove a number
of professional crab fishermen to
Texas. This influx, along with
generally higher seafood prices,
has stimulated crabbing to an un-
to toss it back. He did, quickly.
Would you mind, he was asked,
helping us? By chasing our bad
shots? And, remember, there’s
more of them than otherwise?
You would have thought, seeing
the sparkle in his eyes, that we
had lassoed the moon and put him
in charge of handing out slices of
green cheese. He was that
excited!
O God, how many people
have I shut out of my life? Be-
cause I wouldn’t even bother to
invite them in? How many lone-
ly hearts have gone their lonely
way because I was too busy to
suggest they stay and visit a
while?
For the rest of our game, Bill
and 1 were treated like touring
professionals. Our new friend,
name of Scott, was all over the
place. Not just running his legs
off chasing errant balls, but
applauding our efforts — such as
they were.
Visiting with this youngster
after we had run out of energy, I
was impressed with his bright-
ness. His zest for being. As 1
listened to him, I was thinking.
Lord, am I ever that willing
to share myself with others? To
spend myself doing for others?
I wonder, Lord, if I still enjoy
people and living and being
enough to do something — any-
thing — for the sheer joy of
doing?
It’s not likely I’ll see Scott
again. Maybe I will. In either
case, I cherish our time together.
Not just for the lessons in living,
but for the added dimension our
meeting gives us.
For the part of Scott that will
always be a part of me and Bill,
and for that part of us that will
forever be a part of Scott.
That’s a good thing for me to
remember and celebrate as I start
another year.
We are ever giving. Ever shar-
ing. One another. In love.
precedented nigh level in 1977.
The year’s total catch, in fact, is
expected to set an all-time record.
The first step in the study was
an aerial survey count of crab
traps in October in which 7,000
were sighted. An estimated 140
full-time and 150 part-time crab
fishermen were operating along
the coast during the fall, Moore
said. Landings of blue crabs
through October totaled 7,056,000
pounds, surpassing the 1973 high
of 6,881,000 pounds.
There are several species of
crabs in Texas coastal waters, but
the blue crab is by far the most
numerous, and it is found in
virtually all bays and shallow
water areas throughout the coast.
In the fall of 1975, a rare event
occurred along the upper Texas
coast — for the first time in many
years evidence of a tarpon spawn
was discovered in Galveston Bay.
The initial discovery was made
in September of 1975 by Texas
Parks and Wildlife Department
coastal fisheries biologists who,
while seining a drainage ditch at
Seabrook, netted several young-
of-the-year tarpon.
The significance of this find was
underscored a month later when
an employee of the Houston
Power and Lighting Company dis-
covered a large school of tarpon,
some no longer than four inches,
milling near the company’s Pasa-
dena Deep Water Power Plant’s
thermal discharge in the junction
of the Houston Ship Channel and
Vince’s Bayou.
According to P&WD biologists,
the tarpon that appeared in the
Seabrook ditch and Houston Ship
Channel probably were born in
the shallow Gulf during the
summer of 1975 during which
time a number of large tarpon
were spotted off the upper coast.
Throughout the winter and
spring of 1976, the young tarpon
remained in the channel near the
plant’s thermal discharge where
the water temperature remained
10 to 16 degrees warmer than
average Galveston Bay tempera-
tures.
Within the past couple of
months the small tarpon, now
grown to 30 inches, have reap-
peared, indicating they are sur-
viving well and scattering
throughout the coastal waters of
the upper coast.
In late summer, a 30-inch
tarpon was caught by an angler
fishing in Lake Sabine, marking
the first time in 35 years a tarpon
has been caught in that bay.
Then in October several approx-
imately the same size as the Lake
Sabine fish were netted by P& WD
fisheries biologists in the course
of routine fish samplings along
the upper and middle Texas coast.
In addition to those caught in
the Galveston Bay system, one
tarpon was netted in Matagorda
Bay, while two were netted in
Aransas Bay.
Considering that capture of
tarpon in nets is rare even in
areas where the fish are abun-
dant, the recent nettings of small
tarpon were encouraging to P&
WD biologists.
This sudden appearance of
young tarpon in coastal Texas
waters does not conclusively mean
thay are back to stay, but certain-
ly this species is trying to make a
comeback.
EPA Boss
To Meet TEC
Douglas Costle, Administrator
of the U.S. Environmental Protec-
tion Agency will be featured
speaker at the 7th Annual Meet-
ing of the Texas Environmental
Coalition in Dallas, Texas Jan.
13-14.
Richard Tims, Coalition Presi-
dent, said Costle will speak on
“Public Participation in Environ-
mental Planning and Regulations’’
at a noon luncheon Jan. 13 in the
North Room of the Sheraton-Dal-
las in the Southland Center.
Tims said reservations for the
$10-per-plate luncheon may be
sent to Char White, 9318 Has-
brook, San Antonio, Texas 78217.
After Jan. 9, reservations may be
telephoned to the EPA regional
office in Dallas, (214) 767-2630.
we hope you have
a fun time
whin yOii’iv hSTS,
Mall
SW- * com M• U* SAN ANTONIO. TtXAS
mm
sw
coNDomiNiums
PORT ARANSAS, TEXAS
ON THE GULF BEACHFRONT
9 Stories - 88 One, Two and Three Bedroom Units
Now Under Construction
- Completion - Summer 1978 -
Financing Available
Up To 90%
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Dunes Corporation
P.O. Box 896
Corpus Christi, Tx. 78403
Phone - in Corpus Christi
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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/m1/3/?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.