Texas Fishing Regulations: State and Federal Waters

Texas offshore fishing runs from the jetties at Galveston and Freeport to the rigs and reefs off Port O’Connor, Port Aransas and South Padre. State waters extend 9 nautical miles from the coast, federal waters lie beyond that line, and Texas fishing regulations change at it. Fish landed at the dock must satisfy both sets of rules.

The map shows where to fish, and the rules say what you can keep. On either side of the line you need a Texas license with a saltwater endorsement. Below are the size, bag, season and gear rules for each offshore species, plus the agency link to check before you leave the dock.

Texas Fishing Official Government Organizations

Texas state waters run from the coast out to 9 nautical miles, and federal waters run from 9 to 200 nautical miles. TPWD treats federal waters as everything beyond that line. The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) sets the rules inside the line. The Gulf Council and the NOAA Fisheries Southeast Regional Office set them in federal waters, the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). Texas manages the private-angler red snapper component in federal waters off Texas, and TPWD sets that season, bag and size. A fish landed in Texas must meet Texas limits and the federal limits that applied where it was taken, and possessing fish illegally taken in federal waters is unlawful in Texas waters. Each coastal state draws its own line, and the distance differs across every U.S. state we map. Fishing on state-sponsored offshore artificial reefs follows the same rules as other offshore locations.

• Texas Parks and Wildlife Department – Sets bag, possession and length limits in state waters. It requires a Texas fishing license with a saltwater endorsement to fish state waters or land federal-water fish in Texas. Anglers under 17 and residents born before January 1, 1931 are exempt, and you can buy a saltwater package for $35 resident or $63 non-resident. Anyone who accompanies, assists or transports anglers for compensation in Texas public waters also needs a Fishing Guide License. A guided party’s bag equals the species bag times the number of licensed or exempt people aboard, not counting the guide and deckhands.
• Gulf of America (Gulf of Mexico) Fishery Management Council – Develops the federal reef fish and coastal migratory pelagic rules for the Gulf EEZ, published in 50 CFR part 622. It posts them on the Gulf Council’s regulations page.
• NOAA Fisheries Southeast Regional Office – Puts federal rules into effect, issues the charter vessel/headboat permits and closes seasons by notice when landings reach the catch target. Check the NOAA Fisheries bulletins page for in-season changes.
• NOAA Fisheries Atlantic Highly Migratory Species Management Division – Manages tunas, billfish and swordfish, including permits such as the HMS Angling category, through the HMS permit page.

Texas Offshore Fishing Regulations by Species

Texas limits apply to anything caught within 9 nautical miles and to federal-water fish possessed in state waters or landed in Texas. That is how Texas fishing regulations follow you from the rig to the ramp. TPWD measures total length in a straight line from the snout tip to the extreme tail tip, jaw closed. Federal sizes for greater amberjack, gray triggerfish, king and Spanish mackerel and cobia are fork length, so the same fish can pass one rule and be short under the other.

Leave the head and tail on until the fish is landed on the mainland, a peninsula or a barrier island, not a jetty or pier. King mackerel and broadbill swordfish may have the head or tail removed, but the carcass stays whole and unfilleted. Federal rules require finfish in the Gulf EEZ to be kept with head and fins intact. Tunas, billfish and swordfish are exempt.

For reef fish, use non-stainless steel circle hooks with natural bait, and carry at least one dehooking device and use it on embedded hooks. These are the federal reef fish gear rules. Have a descending device or venting tool ready for fish showing barotrauma, and use it in state waters.

Cobia, king and Spanish mackerel, blue and white marlin, sailfish, wahoo, longbill spearfish, broadbill swordfish and sharks are pole and line only. Spears are legal only for nongame fish. TPWD possession is double the daily bag unless the species rule says otherwise. A species with no TPWD listing has no state bag, possession or length limit.