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SINKING FAST
Word is out that there will be a new scuba and fishing hole soon in the
Gulf of Mexico. It’s a bit sketchy right now, but some say that
it will happen but the question is when.
Several different entities are preparing to sink a ship off the coast
of South Padre Island hopefully this summer. The ship, I’ve been
told is about 450’ long and will be sunk approximately 17 miles
off shore.
The depth at that point is about 150’ according to my sources and
the mast will be just under 30’ from the top of the water. Doors
and hatches will be removed so as to attract smaller fish which will then
attract larger fish and so forth and so on.
This is great news for the diving companies along with the fishing Charter
Captains. Heck, on a calm day, you bay guys can even tunnel your drives
out there and catch some tuna.
There is lead based paint on it which will be removed easy enough. I can’t
wait for when they take it out there and blow a couple of holes in it
and sink it. I’ve heard that this is a trip in itself. It will take
a summer to get any growth on it, but when it does, it will be an incredible
playground for all forms of sealife. I will be putting down my bird watching
binoculars and put on my Scuba Pro mask for a while anyways.
As always, be safe and see you on the water.
Written by Captain Alan Stewart of the Laguna Madre Maritime Training
Center
For Information on the Laguna Madre Maritime Training Center please call
956-639-8697
Click
here for the latest data on the ship USTS "Texas Clipper"
to be sunk, along with GPS coordinates.
(Info courtesy Sam Wells)
RED SNAPPERS IN THE NEWS AGAIN
The results aren’t completely in yet, but it won’t be long.
It seems that every one is attacking the Red Snapper again. I usually sit
on the sidelines on this issue but it affects all of our livelihoods that
live here on this sand dune and will get worse if people like the Recreational
Fishing Alliance among other organizations and individuals don’t do
something about it.
It seems that there isn’t a gray area between what people think about
Red Snapper. Either there is abundance or there isn’t even enough
to fill a stringer. Adjustments were made with the long liners years ago
where they moved to the 50 fathom line and that seemed to solve the problem.
They rebounded rather strongly.
Why are we at the table again discussing bag limits? Five as a bag limit
is already so small, it’s right on the border of whether or not to
even go fishing for those sweet tasting pescas.
One thing everyone is looking at is simply keeping the first five Red Snapper
you catch. This would save about 27 million pounds of Red Fish to spawn.
For those who aren’t familiar with fishing for red snapper along the
West coast of Texas, they are deep. So deep they have a tendency to kind
of explode while being pulled up. The thoughtful deckhands who very professionally
reverse the process save most.
To make a long story short, everyone is looking for a solution, which they
call the “Common Sense Plan”. In the long run they feel the
tremendous reduction in Regulatory Discards would be large enough to open
the Western Gulf of Mexico up to year round fishing once again.
Until next time, be safe and see you on the water.
Written
by Captain Alan Stewart of the Laguna Madre Maritime Training Center
For Information on the Laguna Madre Maritime Training Center please call
956-639-8697
NEW CHANGES
As of January 13th, 2006, the Coast Guard is amending the maritime personnel
licensing rules to include new security requirements when mariners apply
for original, renewal and raise of grade license and certificates of registry.
This interim rule will require all applicants for licenses and certificates
of registry to have their identity checked and their fingerprints taken
for a criminal record review by the Coast Guard.
Bottom line, what this means is every one that I mentioned above rather
it be a new license or a renewal will have to go to Houston to the Regional
Exam Center to have this process done. Boo, Hiss. This will definitely
be an inconvenience for all who want a new Charter license.
There is a bright side to this whole story that kept me busy all day talking
to people from Virginia to Alaska about this to recruit to lobby against
it or at least to offer a solution to the problem. When you take your
completed package to Houston and get your prints done, it is done electronically
and this in turn speeds up the turn around time to less than 30 days and
sometimes 2 weeks. This is great news for the ones who decide to go to
school for their certification in the middle of May. They will have their
license by June.
Our school will offer carpooling during the school or afterwards to make
it more convenient. The R.E.C. is a couple of blocks away from Hobby so
it will be easy to hop on the plane and do a quick round trip in less
than 4 hours. I have already checked the prices. You can catch specials
for $39 one way. A cab will be approx $18 round trip to the office. The
visit is about 30 minutes.
Until next time, be safe and see you on the water.
Written by Captain Alan Stewart of the Laguna Madre Maritime Training
Center
For Information on the Laguna Madre Maritime Training Center please call
956-639-8697
January
2006 articles
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2006 articles
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2006 articles
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2006 articles
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Texas
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