The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) has voted to lower the spotted seatrout daily bag and possession limit from 10 to 5 fish in waters of the Lower Laguna Madre (LLM). The change, which will go into effect in September, marks the first time that TPWD has adopted a regional fisheries management approach.

The bag reduction addresses a downward trend in spawning stocks in the LLM that continues although overall trout populations are improving elsewhere on the Texas coast.

Of particular concern is that the trout spawning biomass is now about half of what it was when the freeze of 1983-84 occurred, which triggered a major seatrout kill along the lower Texas coast.

According to TPWD Coastal Fisheries Director Larry McKinney, for the first time, this year the seatrout catch rate in the LLM fell below the statewide average, and a greater number of reproducing fish are needed to help stocks recover faster.

The bag-limit reduction proposal did meet some resistance among Texas anglers, although once public comments were taken, 2,256 of 3,393 individuals favored the lower regional limit.

The new regulation applies to all waters of the LLM, from Marker 21 in the Landcut to South Bay and including the Brownsville Ship Channel and Arroyo Colorado. The area affected by the regulation does not extend to the tips of the jetties at Gulf passes nor does it include the Gulf beaches. However, any boats fishing in Gulf waters and landing their catches within the boundaries would be subject to the 5-fish per person limit.

The Texas parks and Wildlife Commission also approved the following changes:

* Increase in sheepshead minimum length from the current 12 inches to 15 inches, in increments of one inch per year. This measure will, by 2010, allow all retained fish to reproduce at least once.

* Raise the minimum size limit on tarpon from 80 to 85 inches. The new minimum length would allow Texas anglers a shot at setting a new state record, yet provide conservation benefits.

—Mike Conner