[boat horn]
[acoustic guitar music]
- NARRATOR: It's another day in the office for the
Texas Parks and Wildlife Fisheries team in Rockport.
- JASON SLOCUM: We tend to leave about six.
We have long days on the water where we get
paid in sunrises and sunsets.
- NARRATOR: They're working the water to sample
species in the bay.
This information is used to manage sustainable populations
of shrimp, crabs and game fish.
- I've been working for Texas Parks and Wildlife
for 31 years now.
We sample year-round, no matter what the weather.
- NARRATOR: The crew will hit different sections of the bay
divided up into square-mile segments.
Each month, the Corpus Christi Bay Ecosystem team
collects 20 trawl samples in the bay and 16 trawl samples
in the Gulf off Port Aransas.
- Rain or shine or rough seas or calm seas,
we have to go out regardless.
- If the waves get big enough, everybody gets seasick.
That's what we signed up for, yeah, knew that going in.
- NARRATOR: After about an hour to get to the first stop,
the team is ready for action.
First step: collect water data.
Next, it's time to set the trawl.
- Trawls are large nets we pull on the bay bottom
in order to collect a sample of both
finfish and shellfish.
We collect this data the same way over long periods of time
so that we can establish population trends
over that time.
- NARRATOR: A sustainable shrimp industry depends on
these numbers to ensure shrimp is not over-harvested.
After a 10-minute circle around the site,
it's time to pull in the catch.
- I usually get anxious when the trawl's coming up
because once you throw it out there,
you really never know what you're going to catch.
- TAD: We get sharks and rays, crabs and squid,
a lot of squid.
- NARRATOR: Each species must be counted,
measured and recorded.
- JASON: 145, 137
- NARRATOR: Then they're returned to the bay.
And here's another tip of the trade...
- No bananas on the boat.
That's the big one.
- NARRATOR: It's an old sailor's superstition that
some think came from floating banana crates being
associated with shipwrecks.
- Something will break.
The engine will break or a fan belt will break
and we won't be able to run the boat.
- NARRATOR: So, no bananas, but several more hours of
trawling, collecting and counting.
- TAD: It's smelly.
It's physical.
It's tough.
- JASON: We get pooped on by seagulls.
The birds dive-bomb us all afternoon.
- NARRATOR: But it's not for nothing.
- We see that we used to catch a lot of this species,
but we're not seeing those anymore.
I wonder what's going on with that?
- Fishing and tourism, it's a big part of our economy here.
It feels good to know that you're working to keep that
going for future generations.
- Anybody have a favorite fish or shark out there?
- NARRATOR: Sometimes, the team saves species for the
local game wardens to use for educational events.
- GAME WARDEN: Pretty sharp teeth in there, huh?
Some kids have never been fishing before.
This is their first time seeing a fish.
A lot of them will probably go back and tell their parents,
"Hey, I got to hold a fish today,"
or, "I got to see shark teeth today."
Who knows what kind of crab this is?
You know, educate these kids at an early age, hopefully
they'll understand that they need to protect that resource,
so they'll have it when they get older.
- NARRATOR: That's why the Coastal team continues its
survey of the bay...
one trawl at a time.
- NARRATOR: This project was funded in part by a grant
from the Sport Fish Restoration Program.
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