1-1     By:  Clark, Cook, Ellis, Crownover, et al.            H.C.R. No. 23
 1-2          (Senate Sponsor - Haywood)
 1-3           (In the Senate - Received from the House March 24, 1999;
 1-4     March 25, 1999, read first time and referred to Committee on
 1-5     Natural Resources; May 3, 1999, reported favorably by the following
 1-6     vote:  Yeas 6, Nays 0; May 3, 1999, sent to printer.)
 1-7                         HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
 1-8           WHEREAS, The Lone Star State has been blessed with an
 1-9     abundance of unique natural resources, including a plentiful array
1-10     of streams, rivers, ponds, and lakes that provide countless
1-11     opportunities for entertainment and recreation such as boating,
1-12     various water sports, and sport fishing; and
1-13           WHEREAS, In addition to being an exciting and fulfilling
1-14     activity for anglers young and old, sport fishing is also an
1-15     economic boon for local communities and the state as a whole; over
1-16     two million people annually fish in the freshwater bodies of Texas,
1-17     spending almost $2 billion per year on fishing related goods and
1-18     services and sustaining over 50,000 full-time jobs; and
1-19           WHEREAS, Over the past several years, a bird known as the
1-20     double-crested cormorant, also referred to as the "water turkey,"
1-21     the "sky rat," and the "fire ant with wings," has flocked to Texas
1-22     in growing numbers to winter in the warmer climate; its feeding
1-23     habits and increasing numbers are decimating sport fish populations
1-24     in many areas, especially where fish are stocked on a regular
1-25     basis, and the exploding population of this pest is also decimating
1-26     fish raised by commercial aquaculture facilities; and
1-27           WHEREAS, Although the economic losses suffered by aquaculture
1-28     facilities are more immediate and easier to quantify, the sport
1-29     fishing industry is an enterprise that is also suffering
1-30     economically; of the limited number of studies that have been
1-31     conducted regarding the feeding habits of cormorants, the research
1-32     in Texas does not specifically address the problems occurring in
1-33     many stocked lakes and ponds and therefore does not measure the
1-34     detrimental economic effects of the bird; now, therefore, be it
1-35           RESOLVED, That the 76th Legislature of the State of Texas
1-36     hereby request the United States Fish and Wildlife Service to
1-37     include the economic impact of the cormorant on sport fishing in
1-38     its ongoing evaluation of the double-crested cormorant and that the
1-39     agency create a contingency plan for addressing site-specific
1-40     cormorant problems in sport fishing areas; and, be it further
1-41           RESOLVED, That the United States Fish and Wildlife Service
1-42     consider the removal of the double-crested cormorant from the
1-43     protection of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act if the national
1-44     economic losses warrant severe control methods to keep the
1-45     cormorant population at a manageable level within a given region;
1-46     and, be it further
1-47           RESOLVED, That the secretary of state forward an official
1-48     copy of this resolution to the director of the United States Fish
1-49     and Wildlife Service.
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