Alligator Gar need our help!

Now most of you are wondering as to what Alligator Gar even are. Alligator gar are the second largest freshwater fish in North America and are absolutely vital to life in rivers in Texas. Years of over fishing and bow fishing have taken their toll on these magnificent fish.

Alligator Gar help keep the environment healthy by being apex predators which keep the food web in check. Alligator gar also help local tourism as well as the game fishing industry. Furthermore they are one of the few fish who eat the invasive Asian and European carp that are currently proliferating and destroying the natural balance of rivers in the United states.

With this petition we seek to protect this magnificent species by classifying them as Game fish. Being assigned game fish status in Texas means that the fish cannot be targeted with methods other than hook and line.

This would mean that bow-fishing for alligator gar in the state of Texas would no longer be legal. Bow-fishing is a method of fishing that uses specialized archery equipment to shoot and retrieve fish which does not allow capture and release of fish back into the wild. Giving the alligator gar game fish status would promote selective harvest since if they are caught with hook and line they can be released.

In addition  granting the gar game fish status would allow gar to grow to a larger size on average due to lowered catch rates and increased protection which would not only help the local aquatic environment but also local fishing and tourism businesses as bigger Alligator gar would make their businesses look more attractive. 

This petition also requests the state to consider a closed season for gar during their spawn, from April to June as this would allow the gar population to recover. Furthermore this petition also wishes for the state to consider a slot limit for the harvest of alligator gar which would allow the smaller gar the chance to reproduce and bigger gar to pass on their trophy genetics which in turn would help local sustainable fishing tourism businesses. In addition larger gar produce more offspring, thus leading to an increase in the stability of the alligator  gar population.

We are also requesting the state to improve the processes by which fishermen get their license and to ensure that fishermen  familiarize themselves with state laws for game fish and non-game fish as well as the legal limits and harvest regulation of fish in their states in a manner the state deems fit. This would ensure that the fishing can remain sustainable for many years to come and have a minimal impact on the ecosystem.

If you wish to see Texas be the greatest at Alligator Gar conservation for years to come please sign this petition! we hope that we can expand this project throughout the range of alligator gar in due time :) 

for more info DM @aan_an_adventure on instagram