Some Texas coastal fisheries that had been destroyed by 2021 are freezing, nevertheless it’s nothing new – Watts Up With That?
by David Shormann
Ideas versus reality
The double blow The February Uri and Viola winter storms had a devastating impact on people and animals in Texas and other states. This article sheds light on the often overlooked impact of major frost events on Texas coastal fishing.
The reality is that successive winter storms kept temperatures low enough and long enough to kill millions of fish, thousands of sea turtles, and countless other marine animals. Compare this reality to the deceptive idea that climate change is an imminent threat. We simply cannot be heading for the planet to overheat at the same time as we break centuries-old low-temperature records.
The fact that John Kerry, the President’s Special Envoy for Climate, is flying a private jet is our first indication that those who make political decisions are not believing their own words. Another clue is the growing story of unfulfilled doomsday prophecies about climate change, also known as catastrophic global warming.
A June 1989 United Nations report predicted that if the global warming trend were not reversed by 2000, entire nations would be wiped off the face of rising sea levels. Another false prophecy was Al Gore’s assertion of a climate catastrophe until 2016. Most recently the end of the world The prophet John Kerry moved the goal posts for the climate catastrophe in 2030.
A great aspect of scientific investigation is that we can test ideas against reality. Scientists collect data, create models, and use those models to predict future outcomes. However, once the future arrives and the model fails to predict the results miserably, the model is discarded. The fact that the goal posts keep moving as the planet fries suggests that reality keeps proving this idea of catastrophic global warming is just that, an idea.
The reality of millions of frozen fish
The story of the frost-kill events on the Texas coast is one of the best pieces of evidence that climate change is not an imminent threat. A 1996 Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) report by Joe H. Martin and Lawrence W. McEachron reports freeze killings of inshore fish up to 1527, along with a report by Spanish researcher Cabeza de Vaca. The report comments on over 20 events. More consistent reporting was carried out from the mid-19th century, although more standardized surveys were not carried out until the early 1980s.
One conclusion from the report is that major freeze kill events have occurred on average every 10 to 15 years since the 19th century. This is valuable information for studying real climate trends as well as predicting future outcomes.
While some minor freeze kill events occurred after December 1989, no major events occurred in the nearly 32 years prior to the February 2021 event. This time interval is well above average and supports the fact that coastal temperatures in Texas have increased over the past few decades. Since 1989, fishing for coastal species such as speckled trout, redfish and black drums has been exceptional. The sea turtle populations skyrocketed. These are good things.
Of course, some of the successive winter storms blame the so-called “imminent threat” of climate change that global warming will lead to an increase in extreme weather events. However, the Texas winter kill records show the opposite trend: when temperatures are warm, larger fish kills become less common.
Data from the 1996 TPWD report enables us to estimate the severity of the February 2021 freezing event. For example, the duration of the cold weather can indicate the severity of a freeze kill event. When the freeze was killed in February 1989, temperatures in Corpus Christi fell below freezing for 35 hours. During the freeze in 2021, temperatures remained below freezing for 44 hours in Corpus Christi and 66 hours in Port Arthur. Compare the duration of Port Arthur to 77 hours during the 1983 freeze and 60 hours during the December 1989 freeze.
The 2021 frost bears many similarities to the devastating Texas coast frost killing events of 1983 and 1989, which killed between 6 and 14 million fish. I would expect the 2021 event to fall somewhere in that range, maybe even higher. One advantage we have today over 1989 is social media. And drones. Seasoned Texas inshore fishermen know the pulse of the bays better than almost anyone, including scientists. Some videos documenting freeze-killed fish are available here, here, and here. Using drone material found on social media, I was able to roughly estimate frost damage on the Texas coast to range between 10 and 17 million fish. Locations with less access to deep water were more severely affected. The freeze affected all bay systems, but what appears to be the hardest hit appears to be East Matagorda Bay and Southward, similar to the 1989 freeze events.
Fortunately, most fishermen on social media are promoting catch and release for the near future, especially for speckled trout, which is visibly more affected than other popular wild fish like redfish. Temporary restrictions on fishing may also be needed, but hopefully TPWD will not be too draconian in its policies.
Another consequence of a frost kill is the nutrient impulse of the decomposing fish, followed by an algal bloom. I have done my master’s research on the algal bloom of the brown tide, believed to be caused by the December 1989 freeze-killing nutrient pulse. It will be interesting to see if another brown tidal bloom develops from Baffin Bay to Copano Bay from 1989 to 1992.
The fishery will recover
History shows that after the 2021 freeze, the fishery will recover just as it did in 1989 and after every freeze before it. I remember catching good numbers of speckled trout and redfish just 2.5 years after the December 1989 freeze in Baffin Bay.
Too much faith in the failed idea of catastrophic climate change surprised the Texans. The 2021 freeze kill, which broke the Texas records back in 1895, brought the reality of actual climate trends to the fore.
Prediction: Another major winter death will occur in the next 30 years. Climate catastrophe will not. Let us all do our part to promote the conservation of Texas inshore fishing as they seek to recover from this devastating frost and focus more on real environmental issues like clean air and water, and abundant and diverse wildlife.
Until populations recover, many Texan inshore fishermen advise anglers not to restrict species like these spotted trout and redfish. Authors photo from a fishing trip in 2012 when the fishing was in good shape.
David Shormann, Ph.D., marine chemist and limnologist, is President of DIVE (Digital Interactive Video Education) in Houston, TX and is the author of the Cornwall Alliance for the Stewardship of Creation.
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