CAPTAIN MURCHISON - Texas Game Wardens gain crime-fighting advantage in the Gulf of Mexico

It’s a cat-and-mouse game on the high seas: Unlicensed commercial fisher-men from Mexico head north into Texas waters in small, swift boats called “lanchas,” hoping to catch a haul of seafood before the authorities catch them.

- Daniel Connolly

One day this summer, the crew of one such fishing boat saw something unusual. Heading toward them was a sleek silver vessel boldly marked with the words “Texas Game Warden.”

It was Captain Murchison, an 80-foot aluminum catamaran with a maximum speed of 27 knots. When it’s running fast, the hydrofoil between its twin hulls lifts the bow partially out of the water.

The game wardens requested over a loudspeaker, both in English and Spanish, for the fishing vessel to stop. “It quickly did, because they were shocked. They had never seen a vessel like that before, as capable and maneuverable as it was,” said Cody Jones, an assistant commander with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.

The wardens had a chance to talk with the fishing crew. “They mentioned to one of the game wardens that they knew they couldn’t outrun it, so they just gave up,” Jones recalled. Captain Murchison caught another illegal fishing crew the next day.

These interdictions are among the notable moments so far in the career of Captain Murchison, a high-powered patrol craft that is now the flagship vessel for the law enforcement division of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, also known as the Texas Game Wardens.

Based in South Padre Island near the U.S.-Mexico border, Captain Murchison’s mission is to work with the U.S. Coast Guard to enforce fishing laws and to stop any other illegal activity the crew might encounter.