The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department is concerned about the vulnerability of coastal fisheries during a freeze and reminds the public that it is illegal to harvest fish by means other than rod and reel.
“It is illegal to pick up stunned or dead fish with a net or by hand,” said Robert Goodrich, TPWD assistant chief of law enforcement for fisheries enforcement.


Anyone observing fishing activity in closed areas during a freeze or taking fish by illegal means is urged to contact their local game warden office or call Operation Game Thief at 800-792-GAME.
Texas has about two million acres of bays and estuaries susceptible to freeze. There were three major freezes during the 1980s, including one in 1989 when the temperature in Brownsville dropped to 16 degrees and an estimated 11 million fish were killed in the freeze.