31 Tex. Admin. Code § 57.971 - Definitions
The following words and terms, when used in this subchapter, shall have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. All other words and terms in this subchapter shall have the meanings assigned in the Texas Parks and Wildlife Code.
(1) Annual bag limit--The quantity of a
species of a wildlife resource that may be taken from September 1 of one year
to August 31 of the following year.
(2) Artificial lure--Any lure (including
flies) with hook or hooks attached that is man-made and is used as a bait while
fishing.
(3) Bait--Something used
to lure any aquatic wildlife resource.
(4) Cast net--A net which can be hand-thrown
over an area.
(5) Charter Vessel--A
vessel less than 100 gross tons that meets the requirements of the U.S. Coast
Guard to carry six or fewer passengers for hire and that carries a passenger
for hire at any time during the calendar year. A charter vessel with a
commercial permit is considered to be operating as a charter vessel when it
carries a passenger who pays a fee or when there are more than three persons
aboard, including operator and crew.
(6) Circle hook--A hook originally designed
and manufactured so that the point of the hook is turned perpendicularly back
toward the shank of the hook to form a generally circular or oval
shape.
(7) Coastal waters
boundary--All public waters east and south of the following boundary are
considered saltwater: Beginning at the International Toll Bridge in
Brownsville, thence northward along U.S. Highway 77 to the junction of Paredes
Lines Road (F.M. Road 1847) in Brownsville, thence northward along F.M. Road
1847 to the junction of F.M. Road 106 east of Rio Hondo, thence westward along
F.M. Road 106 to the junction of F.M. Road 508 in Rio Hondo, thence northward
along F.M. Road 508 to the junction of F.M. Road 1420, thence northward along
F.M. Road 1420 to the junction of State Highway 186 east of Raymondville,
thence westward along State Highway 186 to the junction of U.S. Highway 77 near
Raymondville, thence northward along U.S. Highway 77 to the junction of the
Aransas River south of Woodsboro, thence eastward along the south shore of the
Aransas River to the junction of the Aransas River Road at the Bonnie View boat
ramp; thence northward along the Aransas River Road to the junction of F.M.
Road 629; thence northward along F.M. Road 629 to the junction of F.M. Road
136; thence eastward along F.M. Road 136 to the junction of F.M. Road 2678;
then northward along F.M. Road 2678 to the junction of F.M. Road 774 in
Refugio, thence eastward along F.M. Road 774 to the junction of State Highway
35 south of Tivoli, thence northward along State Highway 35 to the junction of
State Highway 185 between Bloomington and Seadrift, thence northwestward along
State Highway 185 to the junction of F.M. Road 616 in Bloomington, thence
northeastward along F.M. Road 616 to the junction of State Highway 35 east of
Blessing, thence southward along State Highway 35 to the junction of F.M. Road
521 north of Palacios, thence northeastward along F.M. Road 521 to the junction
of State Highway 36 south of Brazoria, thence southward along State Highway 36
to the junction of F.M. Road 2004, thence northward along F.M. Road 2004 to the
junction of Interstate Highway 45 between Dickinson and La Marque, thence
northwestward along Interstate Highway 45 to the junction of Interstate Highway
610 in Houston, thence east and northward along Interstate Highway 610 to the
junction of Interstate Highway 10 in Houston, thence eastward along Interstate
Highway 10 to the junction of State Highway 73 in Winnie, thence eastward along
State Highway 73 to the junction of U.S. Highway 287 in Port Arthur, thence
northwestward along U.S. Highway 287 to the junction of Interstate Highway 10
in Beaumont, thence eastward along Interstate Highway 10 to the Louisiana State
Line. The waters of Spindletop Bayou inland from the concrete dam at Russels
Landing on Spindletop Bayou in Jefferson County; public waters north of the dam
on Lake Anahuac in Chambers County; the waters of Taylor Bayou and Big Hill
Bayou inland from the saltwater locks on Taylor Bayou in Jefferson County;
Lakeview City Park Lake, West Guth Park Pond, and Waldron Park Pond in Nueces
County; Galveston County Reservoir and Galveston State Park ponds #1-7 in
Galveston County; Lake Burke-Crenshaw and Lake Nassau in Harris County; Fort
Brown Resaca, Resaca de la Guerra, Resaca de la Palma, Resaca de los Cuates,
Resaca de los Fresnos, Resaca Rancho Viejo, and Town Resaca in Cameron County;
and Little Chocolate Bayou Park Ponds #1 and #2 in Calhoun County are not
considered coastal waters for purposes of this subchapter.
(8) Community fishing lake (CFL)--All public
impoundments 75 acres or smaller located totally within an incorporated city
limits or a municipal, city, county, or state park.
(9) Crab--All species within the families
Portunidae and Menippidae.
(10) Crab line--A baited line with no hook
attached.
(11) Daily bag limit--The
quantity of a species of a wildlife resource that may be lawfully taken in one
day.
(12) Day--A 24-hour period of
time that begins at midnight and ends at midnight.
(13) Descending device--An instrument capable
of releasing a fish at the depth from which the fish was caught.
(A) A descending device must be a weighted
hook, lip clamp, or container that will hold the fish while it is lowered to
depth to effect release. The device must be capable of releasing the fish
automatically, by actions of the operator of the device, or by allowing the
fish to escape on its own when at depth.
(B) A descending device must use a minimum of
a 16-ounce (454-gram) weight and a minimum of a 60-ft (15.2-m) length of
line.
(14) Dip net--A
mesh bag suspended from a frame attached to a handle.
(15) Final processing--The cleaning of a dead
wildlife resource for cooking or storage purposes.
(16) Fish--
(A) Game fish--Alabama bass, blue catfish,
blue marlin, broadbill swordfish, brown trout, channel catfish, cobia, crappie
(black and white), flathead catfish, Guadalupe bass, king mackerel, largemouth
bass, longbill spearfish, pickerel, red drum, rainbow trout, sailfish, sauger,
sharks, smallmouth bass, snook, Spanish mackerel, spotted bass, spotted
seatrout, striped bass, tarpon, tripletail, wahoo, walleye, white bass, white
marlin, yellow bass, and hybrids or subspecies of the species listed in this
subparagraph.
(B) Non-game
fish--All species not listed as game fish, except endangered and threatened
fish, which are defined and regulated under separate proclamations.
(17) Fishing--Taking or attempting
to take aquatic animal life by any means.
(18) Fish length--That straight-line
measurement (while the fish is lying on its side) from the tip of the snout
(jaw closed) to the extreme tip of the tail when the tail is squeezed together
or rotated to produce the maximum overall length.
(19) Fish species names--The names of fishes
are those prescribed by the American Fisheries Society in the most recent
edition of "Common and Scientific Names of Fishes from The United States,
Canada and Mexico."
(20) Fishing
guide--A person who, for compensation, accompanies, assists, or transports a
person or persons engaged in fishing in the water of this state.
(21) Fishing guide deck hand--A person in the
employ of a fishing guide who assists in operating a boat for compensation to
accompany or to transport a person or persons engaged in fishing in the water
of this state.
(22) Folding panel
trap--A metallic or non-metallic mesh trap, the side panels hinged to fold flat
when not in use, and suspended in the water by multiple lines.
(23) Gaff--Any hand-held pole with a hook
attached directly to the pole.
(24)
Gear tag--A tag constructed of material as durable as the device to which it is
attached. The gear tag must be legible, contain the name and address, or
customer number, of the person using the device, and, except for saltwater
trotlines and crab traps fished under a commercial license, the date the device
was set out.
(25) Gig--Any
hand-held shaft with single or multiple points.
(26) Handfishing--Fishing by the use of hands
only and without any other fishing devices such as gaff, pole hook, trap,
stick, or spear.
(27) Headboat--A
vessel that holds a valid Certificate of Inspection issued by the U.S. Coast
Guard to carry passengers for hire. A headboat with a commercial vessel permit
is considered to be operating as a headboat when it carries a passenger who
pays a fee or, in the case of persons aboard fishing for or possessing coastal
migratory fish or Gulf reef fish, when there are more than three persons
aboard, including operator and crew.
(28) Inside waters--All bays, inlets,
outlets, passes, rivers, streams, and other bodies of water landward from the
shoreline of the state along the Gulf of Mexico and contiguous to, or connected
with, but not a part of, the Gulf of Mexico and within which the tide regularly
rises and falls.
(29) Jug line--A
fishing line with five or less hooks and a gear tag tied to a free-floating
device.
(30) Lawful archery
equipment--Longbow, recurved bow, and compound bow.
(31) License year--The period of time for
which an annual fishing license is valid.
(32) Natural bait--A whole or cut-up portion
of a fish or shellfish or a whole or cut-up portion of plant material in its
natural state, provided that none of these may be altered beyond cutting into
portions.
(33) Paddle craft--Any
non-motorized vessel.
(34)
Paddle-craft fishing guide--A person who, for compensation, accompanies,
assists, or transports a person or persons by means of a non-motorized vessel
engaged in fishing in the coastal waters of this state.
(35) Pole and line--A line with hook,
attached to a pole. This gear includes rod and reel.
(36) Possession limit--The maximum number of
a wildlife resource that may be lawfully possessed at one time.
(37) Purse seine--A net with flotation on the
corkline adequate to support the net in open water without touching bottom,
with a rope or wire cable strung through rings attached along the bottom edge
to close the bottom of the net.
(38) Residence--A permanent structure where a
person regularly sleeps and keeps personal belongings such as furniture and
clothes, but does not include a temporary abode or dwelling such as a hunting
or fishing club, or any club house, cabin, tent, or trailer house or mobile
home used as a hunting or fishing camp, or any hotel, motel, or rooming house
used on a temporary basis.
(39)
Sail line--A type of trotline with one end of the main line fixed on the shore,
the other end of the main line attached to a wind-powered floating device or
sail.
(40) Sand Pump--A
self-contained, hand-held, hand-operated suction device used to remove and
capture Callianassid ghost shrimp (Callichirus islagrande) from their
burrows.
(41) Seine--A section of
non-metallic mesh webbing, the top edge buoyed upwards by a floatline and the
bottom edge weighted.
(42)
Spear--Any shaft with single or multiple points, barbed or barbless, which may
be propelled by any means, but does not; include arrows.
(43) Spear gun--Any hand-operated device
designed and used for propelling a spear, but does not include the
crossbow.
(44) Throwline--A fishing
line with:
(A) five or less hooks;
(B) one end attached to a permanent
fixture;
(C) a float attached at or
above the water line; and
(D) a
gear tag.
(45) Trap--A
rigid device of various designs and dimensions used to entrap aquatic life,
including a man-made device such as a box, barrel, or pipe.
(46) Trawl--A bag-shaped net which is dragged
along the bottom or through the water to catch aquatic life.
(47) Trotline--A nonmetallic main fishing
line with:
(A) more than five hooks;
(B) each end attached to a fixture;
(C) floats attached at or above the water
line; and
(D) a gear tag.
(48) Umbrella net--A non-metallic
mesh net that is suspended horizontally in the water by multiple lines attached
to a rigid frame.
(49) Venting
tool--A device capable of penetrating the abdomen of a fish for purposes of
releasing gases accumulated in the body cavity as a result of retrieving the
fish from depth.
(A) A venting tool must be a
sharpened, hollow instrument that allows air to escape (such as a hypodermic
syringe with the plunger removed) of at least a 16-gauge, with an outside
diameter of no less than 0.065 inches (1.65 mm).
(B) A device that is not hollow, such as a
knife or an ice pick, is not a venting tool.
(50) Wildlife resources--For the purposes of
this subchapter, all aquatic animal life.
Notes
State regulations are updated quarterly; we currently have two versions available. Below is a comparison between our most recent version and the prior quarterly release. More comparison features will be added as we have more versions to compare.
No prior version found.