Weeks after hailstorm, more rescued pelicans take flight again<\/a><\/p>\nResearchers with the Harte Research Institute are studying what they believe are key factors behind the tarpon\u2019s decline, including overfishing and habitat challenges along the Texas Gulf Coast.<\/p>\n
Tarpon, often called the \u201csilver king,\u201d has deep roots in Port Aransas. The town was once nicknamed \u201cTarpon,\u201d and the iconic Tarpon Inn still displays massive scales collected by anglers over the years. Fishermen once traveled long distances for the chance to hook the powerful species.<\/p>\n
That popularity peaked in the early 20th century. When President Franklin D. Roosevelt visited Port Aransas on a fishing trip in 1937, tarpon fishing was at its height. But the fishery collapsed in the 1950s, leaving scientists searching for answers, questions that remain today.<\/p>\n
Avid fisherman and Assistant Director John Blaha with the Coastal Conservation Association said tarpon are no longer common in local waters.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been something that\u2019s been in my blood all the time,\u201d Blaha said.<\/p>\n
Blaha said tarpon once played a major role in the Port Aransas economy.<\/p>\n
\u201cA big part of the tourist economy in Port Aransas was tarpon,\u201d he said. \u201cGo to the Tarpon Motel, in their lobby they\u2019ve got a whole wall of tarpon scales dating back prior to the \u201930s and \u201940s.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dr. Matt Streich, Director of the Center for Sportfish Science and Conservation at the Harte Research Institute, is leading a study focused on juvenile tarpon populations in the Coastal Bend.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn Texas, there\u2019s really no information on what constitutes good habitat for juvenile tarpon,\u201d Dr. Streich said.<\/p>\n
Researchers are spending hours in the field to get some of those answers.<\/p>\n
“We’re doing some mark recapture tagging. Just putting in like a microchip, kind of like your pet would get, and when we recapture a fish, we scan it and we can see if it’s been caught before or not,” Streich said.<\/p>\n
The team is also collecting data on different factors to guide future conservation efforts.<\/p>\n
\u201cBy combining all that information, we can try to get an estimate of what\u2019s good versus low-quality habitat,\u201d Streich said.<\/p>\n
Dr. Streich said catch-and-release fishing is now considered the best practice for tarpon. Blaha agrees and encourages anglers to be mindful on the water.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a sport fish,\u201d Blaha said. \u201cLet\u2019s respect that and take care of them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Researchers said the project is part of a larger, multi-phase tarpon study expected to continue for several years. Results from one survey are expected in early 2026.<\/p>\n
In the meantime, experts urge fishermen across the Coastal Bend to follow conservation-minded practices to help protect the remaining tarpon population.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tarpon fishing peaked during President Franklin D. Roosevelt\u2019s 1937 visit to Port Aransas, but the fishery collapsed in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":97140,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[155,157,156],"class_list":{"0":"post-97139","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-corpus-christi","8":"tag-corpus-christi","9":"tag-corpus-christi-headlines","10":"tag-corpus-christi-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97139","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=97139"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97139\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/97140"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=97139"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=97139"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=97139"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}