Alexis Sabine, Texas Sea Grant Fisheries Specialist

My name is Alexis Sabine, and I recently joined Texas Sea Grant (TXSG) at Texas A&M University as a Fisheries Specialist. I wanted to introduce myself to the FlatsWorthy community so that you can get to know me and become familiar with the projects I will be working on. 

I came on board with TXSG’s Sustainable Fisheries and Aquaculture team in November 2020. I am based out of Corpus Christi. At Sea Grant, my focus is on Texas recreational fisheries, and I will be working on a variety of projects concerning the for-hire/fishing guide industry as well as private anglers. As an Extension Specialist, my role is to serve as a link between researchers and fishing communities, with TXSG’s fellow Specialists and County Agents. I look forward to building connections with members of the recreational fishery, promoting sustainable fishing practices, and conducting research in collaboration with fishermen. 

I’m excited about my involvement in several projects here at Sea Grant, including the Texas Fishing Guide Industry Survey. Our goal is to survey fishing guides to gain a deeper understanding of the industry’s needs and challenges, which will allow us to develop beneficial resources for this essential fishery sector. You can read more about this project here in the FlatsWorthy newsletter! More information is also available on the TXSG website at: https://texasseagrant.org/programs/for-hire-fishing-guide-program/index.html.

Other projects that I am working on include the Coastal Monitor Program in partnership with FlatsWorthy, where we are working with fishing guides to document their observations of environmental changes affecting Texas coastal areas; and a weighmaster training program, where Sea Grant will be developing programming to offer workshops to train community members how to be weighmasters at sportfishing tournaments. 

Prior to joining TXSG, I worked for eight years as a Fisheries Biologist with the U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Planning and Natural Resources in St. Thomas, USVI. My close relationship with the USVI recreational and commercial fishing communities was integral to my work in managing the fisheries-dependent data collection program, the Fish Aggregating Devices deployment program, and fisheries outreach and education efforts. I received my master’s degree in Marine and Environmental Science from the University of the Virgin Islands and have a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Geology and Chemistry from Northeastern University in Boston, MA. I have also worked on coral reef monitoring projects in Cambodia, Indonesia, and Trinidad and Tobago.  I’m glad to be in Texas now and look forward to getting to know more of you and working with you in the future! You may contact me via email at asabine@tamu.edu