Potential catch in sport beach seines on the upper Texas coast

Mean monthly catch rates of animals in a 91.4 m seine pulled at six randomly selected sites between Sea Rim State Park and Bolivar Roads were determined. The potential catch in sport beach seines was determined by multiplying mean catch rates by the estimated sport seining effort. The estimated annual sport beach seine catch of the 45 species captured in this study ranged from 463,000 to 89,000,000 animals. The harvest by 1,800 net fishermen could equal or exceed the harvest of 93,000 weekend sport-boat fishermen using hook and line in Galveston Bay.