42 Texas Parks and Wildlife Outdoor Annual 2017-2018 REGULATIONS SUMMARY
FISHING REGULATIONS
Saltwater Freeze Events
When temperatures on the coast are predicted to fall below 32°F for three or more days, the
TPWD executive director may close one or more of the sites listed on the website below for
saltwater fi shing until the threat from the freeze event is over. This NOTICE OF CLOSURE
will be made available to local media including newspapers. If you have any questions about
your fi shing area during a freeze event, please watch your local newspaper or call the nearest
TPWD Law Enforcement offi ce (see pg. 14).
Coastal areas that may be closed to fi shing during freeze conditions can be found at the following
website: tpwd.texas.gov/saltwater-freeze-events
Shrimp Regulations
• Shrimp may be taken for personal use (bait or food). Shrimp taken for personal use may
not be sold.
• A person taking or attempting to take shrimp from salt water for non-commercial purposes
is required to have a valid fi shing license and a saltwater fi shing endorsement.
Legal Sport Shrimping Devices:
• Cast Net (see pg. 29 for cast net restrictions)
• Seine (see pg. 30 for seine restrictions)
• Individual Bait-shrimp Trawl with Individual Bait Shrimp Trawl Tag (see pg. 20 and below)
Individual Bait-shrimp Trawl:
• Only one trawl per boat is allowed.
• Must have an individual bait-shrimp trawl tag in one’s possession while trawling (see pg. 20).
• Must not be greater than 20 feet in width between the doors.
• Mesh size must not be smaller than 8-3/4 inches over a consecutive series of fi ve
stretched meshes.
• Boards must not be larger than 450 square inches each.
Coastal waters (all the salt waters of the state) are divided into the following groups:
1. Outside Water: That part of the Gulf of Mexico extending from the shoreline seaward to nine
nautical miles. May not take shrimp from outside waters during closed seasons (see pg. 44)
2. Inside Water: All bays, passes, rivers, or other bodies of water landward from the shoreline
along the Gulf of Mexico. In these waters, the tide rises and falls and saltwater shrimp are
found or migrate. Shrimping is not permitted within any natural or man-made pass leading
from the inside waters to the outside waters of the state.
3. Major Bays:
• Sabine Lake north of Cameron Causeway to south of a line marked by the Gulf
Intracoastal Waterway (Sabine Neches Canal/Sabine River) between the easternmost tip
of Goat Island to the westernmost tip of Stewts Island
• Trinity Bay southward from a line extending from the mouth of Double Bayou in
Chambers County to Double Bayou Channel Marker 14, to Separator C-2, to Point Barrow
in Chambers County
• Galveston Bay
• East Bay westward from a line extending from Frozen Point to the Gulf Intracoastal
Waterway Marker 12
• Matagorda Bay westward of a line extending from a location on the mainland (where
a line running immediately northwest [bearing 330 degrees] from Shellfi sh Marker A
intersects the mainland), thence southeasterly to Shellfi sh Marker A located near the
mainland, thence to Shellfi sh Marker B located near the end of Shell Island Reef, thence
to the tide gauge located near the Matagorda Peninsula, and thence southeasterly
[bearing 153 degrees] to the Matagorda Peninsula.
• East Matagorda Bay
300
FISHING REGULATIONS
Saltwater Freeze Events
When temperatures on the coast are predicted to fall below 32°F for three or more days, the
TPWD executive director may close one or more of the sites listed on the website below for
saltwater fi shing until the threat from the freeze event is over. This NOTICE OF CLOSURE
will be made available to local media including newspapers. If you have any questions about
your fi shing area during a freeze event, please watch your local newspaper or call the nearest
TPWD Law Enforcement offi ce (see pg. 14).
Coastal areas that may be closed to fi shing during freeze conditions can be found at the following
website: tpwd.texas.gov/saltwater-freeze-events
Shrimp Regulations
• Shrimp may be taken for personal use (bait or food). Shrimp taken for personal use may
not be sold.
• A person taking or attempting to take shrimp from salt water for non-commercial purposes
is required to have a valid fi shing license and a saltwater fi shing endorsement.
Legal Sport Shrimping Devices:
• Cast Net (see pg. 29 for cast net restrictions)
• Seine (see pg. 30 for seine restrictions)
• Individual Bait-shrimp Trawl with Individual Bait Shrimp Trawl Tag (see pg. 20 and below)
Individual Bait-shrimp Trawl:
• Only one trawl per boat is allowed.
• Must have an individual bait-shrimp trawl tag in one’s possession while trawling (see pg. 20).
• Must not be greater than 20 feet in width between the doors.
• Mesh size must not be smaller than 8-3/4 inches over a consecutive series of fi ve
stretched meshes.
• Boards must not be larger than 450 square inches each.
Coastal waters (all the salt waters of the state) are divided into the following groups:
1. Outside Water: That part of the Gulf of Mexico extending from the shoreline seaward to nine
nautical miles. May not take shrimp from outside waters during closed seasons (see pg. 44)
2. Inside Water: All bays, passes, rivers, or other bodies of water landward from the shoreline
along the Gulf of Mexico. In these waters, the tide rises and falls and saltwater shrimp are
found or migrate. Shrimping is not permitted within any natural or man-made pass leading
from the inside waters to the outside waters of the state.
3. Major Bays:
• Sabine Lake north of Cameron Causeway to south of a line marked by the Gulf
Intracoastal Waterway (Sabine Neches Canal/Sabine River) between the easternmost tip
of Goat Island to the westernmost tip of Stewts Island
• Trinity Bay southward from a line extending from the mouth of Double Bayou in
Chambers County to Double Bayou Channel Marker 14, to Separator C-2, to Point Barrow
in Chambers County
• Galveston Bay
• East Bay westward from a line extending from Frozen Point to the Gulf Intracoastal
Waterway Marker 12
• Matagorda Bay westward of a line extending from a location on the mainland (where
a line running immediately northwest [bearing 330 degrees] from Shellfi sh Marker A
intersects the mainland), thence southeasterly to Shellfi sh Marker A located near the
mainland, thence to Shellfi sh Marker B located near the end of Shell Island Reef, thence
to the tide gauge located near the Matagorda Peninsula, and thence southeasterly
[bearing 153 degrees] to the Matagorda Peninsula.
• East Matagorda Bay
300