Red fish killed by freezing temperatures in February float in Pringle Lake on the west side of Matagorda Island in Texas. The state's Parks and Wildlife Department said the historic freeze killed 3.8 million fish.
(Texas Parks and Wildlife Department)- The Texas Parks & Wildlife Department said it's the largest fish kill in the state since the 1980s.
- Spotted seatrout were the game fish most affected by the freeze.
- Anglers have been urged to catch and release to help speed the recovery.
Last month’s historic bitter cold in Texas is being blamed for killing nearly 4 million fish along the state’s coast.
The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department estimates a minimum of 3.8 million fish comprising 61 species died during the freeze. It's the largest fish kill in the state since the 1980s, the agency said.
About 91% of the fish were non-recreational species, meaning anglers don't fish for them, but "non-game fish are ecologically important, providing food for larger game fish as well as adding to the overall diversity of Texas bays," the agency said in a news release.
The other 9% of the fish kill included game species, such as spotted seatrout, black drum, sheepshead, sand seatrout, red drum, gray snapper and red snapper.
(WATCH: Thousands of Sea Turtles Rescued From Cold Gulf of Mexico)
About 104,000 spotted seatrout were killed in Lower Laguna Madre, which lies along the west side of Padre Island.
Volunteers, city workers and local contractors have removed more than 100,000 pounds of dead fish from canals on Padre Island in the past couple of weeks, Marvin Jones, president of the Padre Island Property Owners' Association, told KCEN.
Though rare, freezing events do happen along the Texas coast. Fish may die when they are unable to make it to deeper, more temperature stable water, the agency said.
Three freezes in the 1980s killed nearly 32 million fish. One in December of 1989 killed 6.2 million fish.
(MORE: Hundreds of Houston's Beloved Bats Fell Victim To Freezing Temperatures)
“Using history as a guide, we believe our fishery has the potential to bounce back fairly quickly as it did after the 1980s freeze event. Based on our long-term monitoring, we saw the recovery in terms of numbers of spotted seatrout bounce back in approximately two to three years. This does not mean the fish size and age structure were the same as pre-freeze but the overall numbers did return in that timeframe,” Robin Riechers, director of the state's Coastal Fisheries Division, said in a news release.
Julie Hagen, a Coastal Fisheries Division spokeswoman, told the Victoria Advocate, “We have to remember with these fish populations, we’re talking millions and millions and millions of fish, so even if you lose hundreds of thousands that is not going to be as detrimental as people think.”
Carter Smith, executive director of the Parks and Wildlife Department, said anglers can help quicken the recovery by practicing catch and release or keeping fewer fish to take home.
He said the agency will also evaluate increasing spotted seatrout production at its coastal fish hatcheries and look at what regulation changes may be needed to aid the recovery efforts.
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The Link LonkMarch 11, 2021 at 10:57PM
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Historic Texas Freeze Killed at Least 3.8 Million Fish There | The Weather Channel - Articles from The Weather Channel | weather.com - The Weather Channel
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