Guadalupe Bass Repatriation in Central Texas

The native Guadalupe Bass had become locally extirpated in the San Marcos River and its tributary due to hybridization with non-native Smallmouth Bass, habitat degradation, and reduced water availability. With funding from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF), Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) led a project to restore the native Guadalupe Bass population. TPWD also collaborated with The Nature Conservancy (TNC) to remove Smallmouth Bass and hybrids through backpack electrofishing, and restocked around 300,000 pure Guadalupe Bass from 2012 to 2016. The team also developed landowner incentive programs that enabled habitat restoration on over 59,000 acres of private lands.