SECTION 58.164. Shrimping Inside Waters--Commercial Bait Shrimping

(a) General rules.

(1) A person who has on board or displays a commercial bait-shrimp boat license must operate only under the bait-shrimp rules of this section.

(2) Open waters: commercial bait shrimp boats may shrimp only in bait bays and major bays, except as otherwise provided in this subchapter.

(3) It is unlawful for any person:

(A) aboard a vessel licensed as a commercial bait-shrimp boat to off-load, transfer, sell, or barter any amount of live or dead shrimp, except an amount of live or dead shrimp not to exceed two quarts per sport fisherman or one gallon (by volume) for two or more sport fishermen may be off-loaded, transferred, sold or bartered to a person aboard a sport fishing vessel; or

(B) aboard a vessel to off-load, transfer, purchase, or barter from a person aboard a vessel licensed as a commercial bait-shrimp boat any amount of live or dead shrimp, except a person aboard a sport fishing vessel may off-load, transfer, purchase, or barter an amount of live or dead shrimp not to exceed two quarts per sport fisherman or one gallon (by volume) for two or more sport fishermen.

(b) Commercial bait-shrimp season.

(1) Commercial bait-shrimp season is open year-round.

(2) Legal shrimping hours.

(A) From August 15 through March 31 legal shrimping hours are 30 minutes before sunrise 30 minutes after sunset.

(B) From April 1 through August 14 legal shrimping hours are 30 minutes before sunrise to 30 minutes after sunset.

(C) In the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway between markers 17 and 57 in the Laguna Madre in Nueces County, bait-shrimp may be taken only from 1:00 a.m. to 30 minutes before sunrise each day.

(c) Bag and possession limits.

(1) No more than 200 pounds of whole shrimp per day may be taken or possessed on board.

(2) At least 50% of the on-board catch must be kept in a live condition, except during the period August 16 through November 14.

(3) All shrimp on board must have heads attached.

(d) Size limits Size limits: Shrimp of any size may be retained when caught lawfully during commercial bait-shrimp operations in inside waters.

(e) Net restrictions.

(1) Try nets.

(A) A trawl used as a try net may not exceed 12 feet in total width.

(B) Try net trawl doors or boards may not exceed 450 square inches each.

(C) A beam trawl used as a try net may not exceed five feet in width.

(2) Main trawl:

(A) must have doors at least three feet long as measured along the door centerline from leading tip to the trailing edge of the door; and

(B) must not exceed any of the following dimensions, as measured along an uninterrupted corkline from leading tip of door to leading tip of door including any and all add-on devices or attachments to the corkline:

Attached Graphic

(C) A beam trawl used as a main trawl may not exceed 25 feet in total width.

(3) Mesh size may not be less than 6 1/2 inches in length between the two most widely separated knots in any consecutive series of five stretched meshes after the trawl has been placed in use.

(4) In the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway between markers 17 and 57 (as indicated on the most current United States Coastal Survey Charts on the effective date of these rules) in the Laguna Madre in Nueces County, bait-shrimp may be taken with a legal beam trawl only.

Source Note: The provisions of this §58.164 adopted to be effective October 3, 1996, 21 TexReg 9176; amended to be effective October 10, 2000, 25 TexReg 10157; amended to be effective May 14, 2015, 40 TexReg 2573