- NARRATOR: The Texas Parks and Wildlife Television Series is supported in part by Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation -- conserving the wild things and wild places of Texas, thanks to members across the state.

Additional funding provided by the Toyota Tundra.

Your local Toyota dealers are proud to support outdoor recreation and conservation in Texas.

Adventure-- it's what we share.

Funding also provided by Academy Sports and Outdoors.

Helping hunters, anglers, and outdoor enthusiasts of all ages get outside.

Out here, fun can't lose.

[theme music] - ANNOUNCER: Coming up on Texas Parks & Wildlife... - I see somebody!

- Hey, we got eels!

We've spent a lot of years studying these guys, but there's still a lot we don't know.

- We go hunting together.

[gun fires] - You got it?

- The outdoors is a big part of our life.

- That is pretty.

- I think people are surprised at the quality, the flavor, these are premium oysters grown here in Texas.

[theme music] - ANNOUNCER: Texas Parks & Wildlife , a television series for all outdoors.

♪ ♪ [gentle music] - NARRATOR: On the Texas coast, in this bayou, where fresh water meets the salty sea, scientists have set a trap.

- WOMAN: All right, let's check her out.

- NARRATOR: They're studying an ancient mystery and hoping to catch clues in this five-gallon bucket.

[water gurgling] - I see somebody.

- Hey, we got eels.

- WOMAN: No way!

- We've spent a lot of years studying these guys, but there's still a lot that we don't know.

[gentle music] [water gurgling] We are on Lynn Bayou in Port Lavaca and we have an eel ramp deployed to sample for juvenile American eels.

We've got two yellow eels and we have four either glass eels or elvers.

We've been trying to better understand when these juveniles move into our water here in Texas.

So these right here are your yellow eels.

These are the stage that they spend most of their life in.

And then these are a little bit younger.

These are glass eels or elvers.

And so these are the first two stages they go through whenever they move into our water here in Texas.

Yeah, this species is incredible.

They obviously have a really cool life history.

I mean, these little guys have swam thousands of miles to be here.

[gentle music] - NARRATOR: Eel life is thought to begin near the Bermuda Triangle in the Sargasso Sea.

[gentle music] American eels begin life as leptocephali, flat creatures as big as a paperclip that float on ocean currents, making their way towards land as far North as Greenland all the way down to South America.

As they enter our bays and estuaries, they transform into glass eels, worm-like creatures that are almost fully transparent.

They then begin to darken and become elvers.

Glass eels and elvers either stay in our bays and estuaries or they move up river where they transform again, becoming yellow eels.

Yellow eels can live for many years in our inland waters.

It's unknown what triggers their instinct to return to the ocean, but at some point, they make one final transformation to silver eels and begin their journey back to the Sargasso Sea to spawn and complete their lifecycle.

[water gurgling] - Time to open 'er up.

- NARRATOR: Catching these elusive eels is harder than it looks.

- This is a gravity fed ramp.

- NARRATOR: It takes a little ingenuity.

- We have fresh water that comes down this hose into the ramp and it flows into salt water.

And that fresh water is attracting eels up the ramp.

And as they swim up the ramp, they fall over this lip and then they make their way down this hose into this bucket.

And when we initially started the project, we set up eel ramps all across the coast and we collected our very first glass eels in January of 2023.

And to say that we were excited is an understatement because people were just extremely thrilled to finally collect glass eels.

So those are the first glass eels that have been documented in Texas.

- NARRATOR: Over on the Colorado River, another eel research team is keeping the project going.

[water gushing] - They chase flow, they hear it.

They just want to go up.

- Glass eel migration isn't a set timeframe, which is one of the reasons we keep doing this study year after year 'cause so far, the results are always different.

We're using something called an eel mop and basically all an eel mop is, is a piece of cement and there's a bunch of unfurled rope attached to it.

And essentially they just move into the eel mops and treat it like extra habitat.

They're not stuck in there at all.

They could leave anytime they want, they just don't.

Nothing yet.

American eels are a species of greatest conservation need in our river basin specifically.

- The goal of this project is simply to better understand the ecology of this species, the American eel, in our Texas waters.

[gentle music] - Ooh, I see something.

- There's still so many question marks around this species and people are still just trying to figure it out.

- Oh.

- Yeah.

- One.

- No one's figured out when they come into our Gulf Coast streams and how long that migration window is each year and what does it look like each year?

Is it the same?

Is it different?

Does it come and go?

Clearly, when you migrate upstream, there's barriers throughout, human-made impoundments, log jams, you name it, it's in the river.

And for these species to circumvent these obstructions or straight up climb them is an amazing feat.

There's records of this species being able to climb nearly vertical surface when wetted, when they're in this little glass seal stage too.

How is that possible?

The better we understand the migratory timing of this species into our inland waters, the more informed management decisions we're gonna be able to make all to help facilitate easier migration for this species to complete its lifecycle.

- And what's good for them is gonna be good for a lot of our other species that utilize these same types of habitats.

- We're really interested in fish passage for eels.

Fish passage installed on dams can help migratory fish make it over barriers because it's a really important part of the American eel lifestyle.

They have to go upstream and they have to go back down.

That's something we here at LCRA have been very interested in.

Ideally, as dams get older and they need to be rehabilitated, we are going to try to get fish passage in on as many we possibly can.

[rushing water] [upbeat music] - NARRATOR: The future of the American eel is as mystifying as its journey to Texas waters.

But as researchers learn more about the eels-- - Watch your faces.

- NARRATOR: The interest in this peculiar creature continues to grow.

- It's a nice color.

- They always bring a wow factor.

- Whoa.

- No matter who you are and no matter how you encounter an eel, there's gonna be a wow.

And that could be a, "Whoa, wow, this is awesome."

Or that can be a, "Whoa, wow, that's kind of scary."

- My gosh, - Geez.

- Oh, that's a glass eel.

- I mean, they have this really cool effect on people and I like the fact that people always get excited when they see an eel.

- Got a cute little underbite.

- Yep, that's how you can tell it's an American eel is by the underbite.

I really like that eels in general are incredibly mysterious.

I mean, as a little kid, you grow up hearing about the Bermuda Triangle all the time.

And then it turns out eels reproduce and die in the Bermuda Triangle.

It's just the spookiest places you could imagine.

And eels are like, "That's where I'm going."

- The narrative of the eel is still so cryptic and intriguing, still very mysterious.

And who doesn't love a good mystery?

And that's the whole point of science, right?

Asking questions and trying to figure 'em out.

Learning 'em and progressing our understanding of this planet that we live on.

[water trickling] [gentle music] - Our family, my wife, myself, my two kids, we live an extremely busy life.

All right, kiddos, you gotta go.

Gotta go, gotta go, gotta go.

Maddie and Everlee, they both play almost every sport that you could imagine.

This weekend, we're extremely busy.

Maddy, you got your cell phone?

- Yes.

- You got your water bottle?

- Yes.

- Our life is just go, go, go.

Ready to rock and roll?

- Yeah.

- But regardless of how active and busy we are, we make sure that we spend a lot of time in the outdoors.

Good job, aim for those gloves.

[gentle music] [bat smacks] [cheering] So we're really looking forward to the dove hunt and hunting season and it really slows everything down for us.

Rain or shine, it's gonna be nice, stress-free getaway.

[wind blowing] [birds chirping] We are out here today to scout the fields and kind of get a game plan for tomorrow.

We had some rain today.

The fields, they're soft, but they don't seem unmanageable.

- Hey, Mark.

- Hey Mr.

Bracknell.

- Good to see y'all.

- Good to see you.

So where you been seeing any at?

- I've been seeing most of 'em on that side of the creek.

This field over here is so thick this year.

We don't usually see this in this in the field, but it's so wet.

This is called snow on the prairie, which makes a seed that birds love.

So any of this snow in the prairie, that's where your birds are gonna be.

- The white flowers are so pretty.

- Those are so pretty.

- Yeah.

- And that butterfly right there, look at it.

- Butterfly.

- My daughter, her goal is to try to get her first bird this year.

- Dove.

Birdies.

- She loves being out here as much as anybody else.

- DAVID: Wave your hands.

- Birdie!

- Say boo.

Oh, you see them?

There they go.

Run.

Scare 'em.

Get them.

[all laughing] - That was my goal last year too, to try to get a bird and I didn't get one, but this year, I bet I could.

- So this is gonna be your year?

- This is gonna be.

- You ready to go get 'em?

I think you're gonna do a good job and just like everything else you do, we're excited for it.

- Bye, birdies.

- I'll see you tomorrow.

[gentle music] - It is so beautiful out there right now.

- Yeah, I know.

It's so pretty.

- What makes hunting even more special to me is actually having the girls here with me.

We try to do almost everything together.

And so when we have the opportunity to come out here and enjoy mother nature like this, it's something special for sure.

- Here comes the sun, it'll make the birds get up.

We get pretty excited when dove season comes around.

It's a special time when family comes.

And this year, it's just even more special with my granddaughter getting older and she's nine now and she can, you know, she can learn how to shoot and be safe with what she's doing.

I think by next year, she'll probably have a gun and be shooting.

- Do we ever wanna put our hand on the trigger?

- No.

- When do we put our finger on that trigger?

- When you're about to shoot.

- When you're about to shoot.

And that means we got birds coming in.

I want this hand down here.

And then with your other hand, we're gonna secure that.

We don't want it over the action part.

Now, say there's a bird gonna cross.

Are we gonna be in front of the bird or at the bird?

- In front.

- Stay in front of the bird.

Now we're just gonna wait for some dove to come through.

[dove calling] Part of hunting is being patient and that's a life skill that a lot of people learn while hunting.

I think that's what's great about kids being out here.

Having public land around just makes it easy to really introduce new hunters into the world of hunting.

- MARK: Mason Mountain Wildlife Management area is a 5,500 acre wildlife management area, but we have about 750 acres open for public dove hunting.

Public hunting offers an inexpensive way to get outside to experience hunting.

That's why I think it's important that we offer that.

And we manage our dove hunting fields by planting native sunflowers.

Gosh, these look good this year.

Native sunflowers are some of the best seeds for migratory birds, so that helps our dove hunting a lot.

Oh yeah.

Made good seed.

Here's a morning dove that just sat down in a harvester ant mount.

The harvester ants are known as harvester ants because they harvest seed.

Dove can come and pick up the seed the ants have all brought back.

Pretty neat to see.

You can see what he was eating right here.

Let's see if we can identify some... cotton top seeds.

I see some arista, the seed.

I see one or two little pieces of sunflower seeds.

So the ants have brought all these to their mound and then the dove can come in and this is like a little food dish for the dove.

[birds chirping] - You ready to go set up?

- I'm excited.

- I love to see the dove hunters come out and you see families come out and you see two or three generations at times and you see parents and their kids and a lot of times like the Bracknells, you see parents, kids and their grandkids come out.

It's a great way to introduce kids to the outdoors and I love to see 'em come out.

- I'd say we're ready now.

We just like this place because it's beautiful, relaxing, peaceful time.

- DAVID: What I like about it's you get to enjoy the moment.

- Yeah.

- Are there many days you get to look up at the sky and it's so blue?

It is beautiful right now.

I can tell you this.

Even if we don't shoot a dove, still happy to be out here.

- Yeah.

- David, I think you got one coming in right at you.

- Come on, come on, come on, come on, come on.

[gun fires] [gun fires] - Dang.

- It's okay Daddy, it was close.

- Woo.

It's exciting though.

- Oh shoot.

[gun fires] Dead center.

- Good job.

- Oh, that's a nice one.

- Good shot.

- Good job, grandma.

- Here, they're coming in.

[gun fires] Oh, we got one.

- Gotcha.

- You got it?

- Let's go.

That's your bird right there.

There we go.

- That is pretty.

- It's so special.

Got it with my Mad Dog.

Maddie, she's my lucky charm.

You're a true outdoor girl.

Down low, up high.

Boom.

All right.

- Pound it.

- Pound it, elbow it.

Pfoo!

Here you go.

[gun fires] Get you a bird.

There you go.

That's a pretty one.

I told you you was a good bird dog.

- Sound like Maddie's having fun.

That's what it's all about.

- And push, push, push, push, push.

Perfect.

All right, come on.

Good job, Mad Dog.

All right, next shot, it's gonna be yours.

You ready to take a shot?

- Yeah.

- All right, think about it like you're throwing the softball at somebody running.

You wanna lead the softball as they get to it.

All right, this has to be on your shoulder.

Right here, right here.

[gun fires] [laughing] - So close.

- You almost had it!

You almost had it!

- That was so much fun.

That was so much fun.

- I'm so proud of you.

You didn't go crazy.

You didn't overreact.

That's how we do it.

Good job, kiddo.

All right, you almost got it.

- I know.

- At least you got to shoot the gun, huh?

- Yeah.

- All righty.

I mean, I have to say it's been a very enjoyable hunt this evening.

- DAVID: Out here with my princess on this beautiful day.

That's all that matters.

- ANGELA: You know, when you can get those special times with your family, grab 'em.

And that's what it's all about.

And when we come out here, that's how we feel.

[water lapping] [gentle music] - Copano Bay, I think, is really interesting.

It was named after the Copane tribe of the Karankawa people.

They were big oyster eaters themselves.

We've had a long history here of oyster-loving people.

My name is Amy Belaire.

My husband, Seth, and I own Big Tree Oyster Company in Rockport, Texas.

We have grown up on the water, spent a lot of our careers on the water, and are really thrilled to be running an oyster farm now in our hometown in Copano Bay.

[upbeat music] Cultivated oyster mariculture is one of the most sustainable forms of food production in the world.

It's a really exciting thing for us to be part of, especially as people who care deeply about the coast and want to see oysters continue to be part of our ecosystem and our community, our culture, our economy.

[bright music] I'm gonna wear my hood today 'cause the jellyfish are a little thick.

- Good.

But we're still flipping to the North and back to the South, right?

- Yes.

- That's what we're doing?

- Yeah, let's do it.

- Yeah.

[water splashing] - Flipping the cages is an important step.

When we do that, the oysters are actually out of the water, so it's sort of mimicking a natural and ideal tide situation for them.

Any predators that are in the cages will fall out.

Any algae or barnacles, it'll kind of get some of that back.

But it also has the benefit of the oysters when they're out of the water, they actually close their shell really tightly and so it strengthens their muscle.

Their muscle is what adds a little bit of sweetness.

So it does, I think, change the flavor.

[water gurgling] It's a fun workout and a really good way to get up close and personal with the oysters.

Copano Bay I think is a really special place.

[upbeat music] A lot of what motivates me and Seth too is this is something that benefits a bay and a place that we care about so much.

Even if you don't eat oysters, this is a really exciting development for Texas because these farms take pressure off of wild reefs, which are declining worldwide, including in Texas.

When these farms are filtering water in the bay, millions of gallons a day, these oysters are just filtering as part of their feeding process.

They're creating habitat structure for baby crabs and baby shrimp and more fish throughout the ecosystem.

There's a lot to love about oyster farming.

They're making the bays healthier every day.

[birds chirping] - SETH: Physically, it is very difficult.

I'm guessing some of those bags are 60 to 75 pounds.

So, you know, when we load up a line.

that's 13 cages times six, you know, you've moved five or 6,000 pounds of oysters.

We pull 'em outta the cages, we put them in the boat, we move them from the boat to the tumbler.

We run them through the tumbler, move them back onto the boat, and then we go up back out to the farm.

So I guess that's four times we've handled them on any given Tuesday.

- AMY: Tumbling has the added benefit of allowing us to sort the oysters by size.

As they approach harvest size, we'll do like one final tumble, then they go back out to the farm for a couple weeks and we'll mark 'em for harvest.

We have some of our fast growers that, you know, peak quickly, and then the middle growers and the slow growers.

- That's a nice-- - That's a nice one.

So we are kind of constantly managing for that, to make sure that we have harvest-sized oysters ready for delivery.

We will pull those oysters out, bring them back, we bag them and start delivering them to restaurants the next day.

This one is ready for delivery.

It is really satisfying to be able to deliver the product that you raised from teeny tiny baby directly to folks who are about to enjoy it.

For people who do like oysters, I think this is a very exciting chapter for Texas.

- These look awesome.

I love it.

They're gorgeous.

Here at Southerleigh, we decided to go all in on Texas oysters because, you know, it's this fantastic product that at the time, no one knew about.

Some of the things that we're really proud of is supporting our community around us.

And this was a new community that we really wanted to support.

Hot, coming through.

- The product that they were providing was like, blew us outta the water.

- Oh man, that's awesome.

- One of the people who are really like pushing into it is Daniel Wangler.

He's throwing his own festival.

It's a Texas Indie Oyster Fest in Austin and it's awesome.

- It's about good quality food, local food.

It's about environment.

We are here to celebrate oyster farmers.

We've got some of our best chef friends expressing their art using the Texas oyster as their canvas.

- All right, beautiful.

Thank you all very much.

- We're here to celebrate and have fun and slurp.

[upbeat music] - So I wanted to create an event that was spotlighting Texas chefs, Texas farms and community members to lift up that Texas oyster farmer to make them feel loved, respected, and to give them a chance, you know, to tell their story and share their amazing food.

- The crowd is really starting to pick up.

It's gonna be a great day, great day for Texas oysters.

- The oysters speak for themselves, and then when the chef puts their little kiss on it, right, it's even better.

- You get a little bit of spice, a little bit of creaminess, a little bit of saltiness, a little bit of sweetness, flavors, all of just balance out without overpowering the oyster.

- These are fantastic.

- Perfect.

- Yeah, beautiful oyster.

Same quality that you get out of the Prince Edward Island.

But we can grow it in a quarter of the time and that's the beautiful thing those coming out of the Texas Gulf.

- We're changing minds of one chef at a time, and we're having fun doing it.

[upbeat music] - My hope for the future for Texas farmed oysters is this idea of merroir with the oysters from Copano Bay and Aransas Bay and Matagorda Bay and Galveston Bay, all on a plate together, a flight of Texas oysters, all unique, all delicious, all really high-quality.

I love that idea and I hope that that is where the future takes us.

[wind blowing] [wind blowing] [crickets chirping] [crickets chirping] [crickets chirping] [crickets chirping] [crickets chirping] - NARRATOR: The Texas Parks and Wildlife Television Series is supported in part by Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation -- conserving the wild things and wild places of Texas, thanks to members across the state.

Additional funding provided by the Toyota Tundra.

Your local Toyota dealers are proud to support outdoor recreation and conservation in Texas.

Adventure-- it's what we share.

Funding also provided by Academy Sports and Outdoors.

Helping hunters, anglers, and outdoor enthusiasts of all ages get outside.

Out here, fun can't lose.