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Joined: Apr 2002
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Lunker
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Lunker
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Hello and Greetings to everyone from Overton Fisheries!!
This message serves to inform you of some very important TPWD regulations on Mozambique Tilapia, and to provide you with a phone # and email link where you can voice your comments and concerns about this issue.
The TPWD recently clarified an existing regulation for the industry. They made it clear that Mozambique Tilapia are indeed legal to stock in Texas private waters without a permit, HOWEVER, YOU MAY NOT TRANSPORT YOUR OWN MOZAMBIQUE TILAPIA. In essence, you may have these fish delivered by one of our hauling trucks or via a 3rd party transport company ONLY. We feel this regulation is ridiculous. We have built a solid business over the last decade by supplying tilapia via farm pick-up, and the issue is up for public comment before the TPWD makes a ruling on it in August.
So if you are a fan of tilapia and have enjoyed the convenience of picking these fish up at our farm and stocking them yourself, then we need your help the most. Please call or email your comment to Ken Kurzawski at 512-389-4591 or ken.kurzawski@tpwd.texas.gov
Last edited by overtonfisheries; 06/05/13 04:04 PM.
It's ALL about the fish!
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Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 7,099 Likes: 23
Ambassador Field Correspondent Hall of Fame Lunker
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Ambassador Field Correspondent Hall of Fame Lunker
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 7,099 Likes: 23 |
I am guessing the "logic" TPWD is using is that farms and professional haulers have the expertise to avoid inadvertent releases...but when is legislation "logical"?
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Joined: Feb 2011
Posts: 5,318 Likes: 303
Moderator
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Moderator
Joined: Feb 2011
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I'm getting fed up with TPWD.
Todd, thanks for the head's up.
AL
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Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 16,062 Likes: 279
Moderator Lunker
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Moderator Lunker
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 16,062 Likes: 279 |
Todd, I'll call.
However, I have found that TPWD solicits public opinion and then does whatever they want.
Last edited by Dave Davidson1; 06/05/13 08:21 PM.
It's not about the fish. It's about the pond. Take care of the pond and the fish will be fine. PB subscriber since before it was in color.
Without a sense of urgency, Nothing ever gets done.
Boy, if I say "sic em", you'd better look for something to bite. Sam Shelley Rancher and Farmer Muleshoe Texas 1892-1985 RIP
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Joined: Apr 2013
Posts: 115
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Joined: Apr 2013
Posts: 115 |
Will call as well. My short experience with TPWD is that they are indeed only slightly less retarded than Texas department of motor vehicles
"Life has become immeasurably better since I have learned to stop taking it so seriously"
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Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 20,043 Likes: 1
Hall of Fame Lunker
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Hall of Fame Lunker
Joined: Aug 2002
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Todd, I'll call.
However, I have found that TPWD solicits public opinion and then does whatever they want. Good luck folks. That's been my experience with APHIS up here when it came to VHS rules and I hope it isn't yours with TPWD. They have public hearings and then go ahead and do whatever they want. The meetings are just protocol and make it look like they are listening. We're just a bunch of peons. We have found it best to pursue all avenues to have a chance and that means contacting your state representatives.
If pigs could fly bacon would be harder to come by and there would be a lot of damaged trees.
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Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 2,186 Likes: 44
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Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 2,186 Likes: 44 |
Todd, I'll call and I might just stop by and talk to a few nice people as well......where i Austin are they? Thanks.
Brian
The one thing is the one thing A dry fly catches no fish Try not to be THAT 10%
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Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 342
Lunker
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Lunker
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 342 |
I just spent about 15 minutes on the phone with Ken at the TPWD. He was pleasant and helpful on the phone. He said that the law has always been that Tilapia must be delivered to and not picked up by private parties. He understands that in practice that is not the situation, but that technically if you were to get pulled over with live Tilapia you can be fined. He made it clear that he does not make the decision, but that he has received lots of feedback in support of the proposed change to the law that would allow transportation by private parties. He said that it probably would require some type of transportation permit or letter authorizing a private party transaction given to you by the distributor.
The best thing we can do to positively influence and enable the change is to look at the TPWD website later this month after the change is registered with the commission and they will post a link to make public comments about the proposed change. The commission won't rule til August and they will collect citizens feedback for the months of June-August until the commission votes on it. He did take my name and is documenting inquiries.
"Our Life is frittered away by detail. Simplify, Simplify" -Henry David Thoreau -
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Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 3,800 Likes: 72
Hall of Fame 2014
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Hall of Fame 2014
Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 3,800 Likes: 72 |
He said that it probably would require some type of transportation permit or letter authorizing a private party transaction given to you by the distributor. Thanks Captain will do on the website public comments feedback, and I better leave it at that, otherwise NannyState-ism will infuriate me even more than I already am!
Fishing has never been about the fish....
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Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 28,579 Likes: 853
Moderator Ambassador Field Correspondent Lunker
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Moderator Ambassador Field Correspondent Lunker
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Posts: 28,579 Likes: 853 |
Indiana did the same thing a few years ago on new deer hunting regs and seasons. There was such an outcry from sportsmen that they shelved the proposal and formulated one around the suggestions that the public had. We all were suprised that they actually listened.
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Joined: Aug 2002
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Hall of Fame Lunker
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Hall of Fame Lunker
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Yes surprising our state of Indiana does listen at times Scott. They also have a mind set of not creating too many regs or not making things complicated as it can be a pain on their side too. Hope it stays that way.
Permits tend to be free too as far as fish related things. A pathologist in WI once told me me if regs get too strangling or costly, people just go under the radar and it negates the purpose of the regs in the first place.
Goog luck in Texas and don't forget to contact your state reps. It really does make a difference.
Last edited by Cecil Baird1; 06/06/13 01:48 PM.
If pigs could fly bacon would be harder to come by and there would be a lot of damaged trees.
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Joined: Jun 2010
Posts: 73 Likes: 1
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Joined: Jun 2010
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Just sent Ken an email....our lake is being dredged within the next month to remove build up and we're waiting to get our tilapia. Don't want to pay anymore than we have to and you're on our way from dtr's home in Dallas.
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Joined: Oct 2010
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Joined: Oct 2010
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hope you folks at overton don't mind if i post this on another message board?
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Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 2,186 Likes: 44
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Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 2,186 Likes: 44 |
I just got off the phone with Ken and so far it looks good for the proposal that would allow us to transport Tilapia under the direction of the permit holder. After the proposal is sent forward and registered there will be a public comment period. The site for those comments is here: TPWD Comment Site
Brian
The one thing is the one thing A dry fly catches no fish Try not to be THAT 10%
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Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 5,712 Likes: 3
Moderator Ambassador Field Correspondent Lunker
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Moderator Ambassador Field Correspondent Lunker
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 5,712 Likes: 3 |
I'm getting fed up with TPWD. Al -- we welcome friendly people like you in WV. I'd love to have more tilapia supporters join me as the nearly lone voice in the West Virginia Aquaculture Association, regarding using tilapia in ponds. It took me nearly 6 years of harping to get state approval saying they are OK in private ponds. WV is a beautiful place with fantastic waters and incredible mountains full of fish and wildlife -- and the friendliest people you will find anywhere. Todd3138 and I may beat on you about it when we see you at the next Pond Boss regional gathering! Unfortunately, it is just a lot cooler here in the summer, we have a lot fewer rattlesnakes, and we get a lot more rain than in Texas. Ken
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Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 28,579 Likes: 853
Moderator Ambassador Field Correspondent Lunker
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Moderator Ambassador Field Correspondent Lunker
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 28,579 Likes: 853 |
More snow in the winter too!
Speaking of rain, what does it mean when the highest amount of rainfall "color" in a storm is red on the chart, but at my house it's a reddish brown on the radar? As long as the 60-90 mph winds (or higher rotating winds) stay away, I'm a happy camper.
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Joined: Mar 2013
Posts: 68
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Joined: Mar 2013
Posts: 68 |
Additional point for my Texas friends, remember that you can also contact your local legislative rep and they might start nudging as well. May not work, but worth the effort to revise this rule.
John
Give a few country boys a little money, beer, an arc welder and power tools and great things can happen...or someone is going to the hospital or jail.
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Joined: Feb 2011
Posts: 5,318 Likes: 303
Moderator
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Moderator
Joined: Feb 2011
Posts: 5,318 Likes: 303 |
I'm getting fed up with TPWD. Al -- we welcome friendly people like you in WV. I'd love to have more tilapia supporters join me as the nearly lone voice in the West Virginia Aquaculture Association, regarding using tilapia in ponds. It took me nearly 6 years of harping to get state approval saying they are OK in private ponds. WV is a beautiful place with fantastic waters and incredible mountains full of fish and wildlife -- and the friendliest people you will find anywhere. Todd3138 and I may beat on you about it when we see you at the next Pond Boss regional gathering! Unfortunately, it is just a lot cooler here in the summer, we have a lot fewer rattlesnakes, and we get a lot more rain than in Texas. Ken Ken, if I ever show up with all my cast iron and knife bag, you better clear a room out. Weather here sometimes makes it hard to always love my area. My family, my great friends, and my piece of dirt in the country are all that keep me here.
AL
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Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 5,712 Likes: 3
Moderator Ambassador Field Correspondent Lunker
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Moderator Ambassador Field Correspondent Lunker
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 5,712 Likes: 3 |
Al,
Come on up. I think it got darn near 80 degrees today. We had a little rain, and both ponds are at still at full pool. A high of 81 is forecast for tomorrow, and 79 day after that. It is just getting ready for another mountain rain storm.
We have an empty home nearby that is in an over-55 community. My basement office has a bed, and just outside the office is my fishing/hunting kitchen -- literally with a ton of cast iron pots and pans, lots of knives, sharpeners, etc.
With your beard, you'd look just like the locals, especially if you wear bib overalls, like I do most of the time.
And, we can have tilapia. To get them from somebody out of state, like Rex, we just need a free importation permit.
Oh, and I've never seen a rattlesnake in either Virginia or West Virginia, although they supposedly live in our mountains. Ken
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Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 8,799 Likes: 69
Chairman, Pond Boss Legacy award; Moderator; field correspondent Lunker
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Chairman, Pond Boss Legacy award; Moderator; field correspondent Lunker
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 8,799 Likes: 69 |
Consider the odds of first getting pulled over, then fractionally multiply that by the chances a highway patrolman or deputy sherriff would correctly ID a Tilapia. Wonder what the fine is?
Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after. ~ Henry David Thoreau
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Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 2,186 Likes: 44
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Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 2,186 Likes: 44 |
ONE Million Dollars (pinky raised to corner of mouth)!!
Brian
The one thing is the one thing A dry fly catches no fish Try not to be THAT 10%
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Joined: Mar 2013
Posts: 68
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Joined: Mar 2013
Posts: 68 |
With some of the troopers I deal with, you may face sanctions for having a hornless buck without tags if they find fish in your truck...
Give a few country boys a little money, beer, an arc welder and power tools and great things can happen...or someone is going to the hospital or jail.
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Joined: Feb 2011
Posts: 5,318 Likes: 303
Moderator
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Moderator
Joined: Feb 2011
Posts: 5,318 Likes: 303 |
I found these TPWD docs online: Tilapia 1 Tilapia 2 Apparently Tilapia are being grouped with grass carp. Two way different species.
AL
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Joined: May 2013
Posts: 203
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Joined: May 2013
Posts: 203 |
It doesnt make a ton of sense to me because triploid grass carps require a permit to stock and Mozambiques do not.
I guess this implies that even if you have a carp permit you need an exotic species permit to transport it.
brian
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Joined: Feb 2011
Posts: 5,318 Likes: 303
Moderator
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Moderator
Joined: Feb 2011
Posts: 5,318 Likes: 303 |
I've emailed Ken Kurzawski for specific details on the proposed changes, and how it affects the private pond owner. Either way, I may need to make a trip to Austin for the August hearings.
Ken, Momma vetoed the bib overalls. Something about the girth to denim ratios. She's a temp anyway.
AL
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My First
by Bill Cody - 05/06/24 07:22 PM
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