Story by Craig Nyhus, Lone Star Outdoor News | Photos by Erich Schlegel, for Lone Star Outdoor News
This story originally appeared in the Sept. 9 issue.
Photographer Erich Schlegel accompanied Texas game wardens on the patrol boat Captain Murchison out of Port Isabel on Aug. 25. The crew found and hauled in miles of illegal longlines set by Mexican fishermen, along with more than 250 red snapper.
Capt. Wesley Groth heads the Marine Tactical Operations Group comprised of five full-time wardens.
“Our main mission is to focus on illegal commercial fishing, port security and border security,” Groth said. “We operate the Capt. Murchison, an 80-foot vessel and patrol weekly.”
On that Thursday, the crew was out on its normal patrol when a Coast Guard pilot discovered several lanchas 25 miles east of South Padre Island in the Gulf, and 5 miles north of the maritime southern border.
“They were clearly in U.S. waters,” Groth said. “The pilot guided us to where they set the longlines, but when we got there, the plane had scared the illegal fishermen back to Mexican waters.
“We seized the longline gear,” Groth said. “There was 45,000 feet of longline gear and several thousand pounds of snapper and sharks. We also released some stingrays.”
Groth said estimating the damage caused to the fishing resources was difficult to quantify — but is definitely substantial. “Each lancha can take up to 1,000 pounds of fish at one time,” he said. “We can see up to nine vessels in our waters at a time. That’s 9,000 pounds at a time.”
In 2020, the Marine Tactical Operations Group seized more than 116,860 feet of illegal longline and 2,500 feet of illegal gillnet. The team recovered more than 3,600 pounds of illegally harvested red snapper, rescued and released three sea turtles, and seized two commercial Mexican fishing vessels.
The group was named the recipient of the 2020 Law Enforcement Officer/Team of the Year award by the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council.
“We battle this on a yearly basis,” Groth said. “We seize the boats, but it’s a never-ending battle. And it can be a cat-and-mouse game.”
The crew will be out again after the Labor Day weekend.
“We do weekly patrols out of South Padre Island,” Groth said. “The boat can go 450 miles, so we can go for three or four days. We also check shrimp boats and the recreational and commercial boats we see.”
Groth had a request for the commercial and recreational fishermen in the Gulf.
“If you see the lanchas or the longlines, give us a call and provide the GPS coordinates,” he said. “We need all the watchful eyes we can have.”
