targeted them for elimination to protect gamefish populations, and to prevent alleged attacks on humans, a claim that remains unsubstantiated with the exception of occasional injuries sustained from captured alligator gar thrashing around on the decks of boats. Fishermen participated in the slaughter of thousands of alligator gar believing they were providing a great service. In 1992, PBS affiliate KUHT channel 8 became the presenting station for a public-outreach program that documented the life history cycle of alligator gar titled The Alligator Gar: Predator or Prey?. It was the first documentary ever produced and televised nationally about alligator gar at a time when it was still being referred to as a trash fish. The half-hour program ran for three years as part of an educational series titled "Exotic and Unusual Fishes", produced by Earthwave Society. It first aired in primetime during the 1992 July sweeps, and drew a 2.8 rating/4 share, making it the number-one rated program of the evening for several PBS affiliates. A decade passed before any significant action was taken to protect and preserve the remaining populations of alligator gar in the United States. Among the first to enact restoration and management practices was the Missouri Department of Conservation in partnership with Tennessee, Arkansas, Kentucky, Illinois, Alabama, Mississippi, Texas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana. Sport fish The long-time public perception of alligator gar as trash fish or a nuisance species has changed, with increasing national and international attention on the species as a sport fish, which some have attributed to features on popular television shows. Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Louisiana allow regulated sport fishing of alligator gar. Texas has one of the best remaining fisheries for alligator gar, and in concert with its efforts to maintain a viable fishery, imposed a one-per-day bag limit on them in 2009. The Texas state record, and world record for the largest alligator gar caught on rod and reel, is , taken by Bill Valverde on January 1, 1951, on the Rio Grande in Texas. Alligator gar are also quite popular among bowfishers because of their large size, trophy potential, and fighting ability. The Texas state bowfishing record was set in 2001 by Marty McClellan with a alligator gar from the Trinity River. The all-tackle record was a alligator gar caught on a trotline in 1953 by T.C. Pierce Jr. In 1991, fishing guide Kirk Kirkland anecdotally reported catching an alligator gar