Texas Fish Art Contest Reveals 2026 Winners

Texas Fish Art Contest Reveals 2026 Winners

April 15, 2026

Media Contact: TPWD News, Business Hours, 512-389-8030

News ImageShare on Facebook Share Release URL

ATHENS - The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) is pleased to announce the 2026 winners of the Texas division of the Wildlife Forever's Fish Art Contest. The contest is housed and administered by TPWD's Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center (TFFC) in Athens.

Judges chose 14 out of 714 total entries to be featured in the 2027 Texas Fish Art Calendar and displayed in an exhibit at TFFC.

The Fish Art Contest is part of an international conservation education program designed to foster youth interest in fish, fisheries and fishing. The program encourages K-12 students to submit original artwork of any fish and a creative writing piece (grades 4-12) about the participant's fish entry, its habitat or efforts to conserve it.

"The Fish Art contest is just one way in which we can help students connect with the outdoors," said Darrel Malone, Education and Interpretation Coordinator at TFFC. "As they research their chosen fish species and begin to learn about its habitat, they begin to find a personal connection to their fish. This connection can help inspire the future stewards of our natural resources. The Fish Art Contest is more than just drawing a fish, it helps our youth to establish a bond with the outdoors."

Students are placed into grade categories for judging, where their skills are more closely matched. The judges grade the art based on accuracy of the chosen species, accuracy of the habitat, and the artist's creativity to choose the winners for each grade category.

In the K-3 category, the winners were: First place, Jeremiah Lee of Dallas; second place, Franco Du of Flower Mound; third place, Nora Cheng of Austin.

Honorable mentions in grades K-3 were awarded to: Cathie Zhang of Austin; Layla Ruppert of Fort Worth; Ivan Moc of Dallas; Haasya Doddapaneni of Dallas; Alisa Davis of Flower Mound; and Ariana Savarina of Fort Worth.

In the grades 4-6 category, the winners were: First place, Candice Chen of Bee Cave; second place, Eva Huang of Austin; third place, Yueran Lang of Austin.

Honorable mentions in grades 4-6 were awarded to: Zoe Chen of Austin; Elsie Zhang of Austin; Raymond Alvarez of Bee Cave; Caeden Yacktman of Bee Cave; Maahi Khivansara of Lewisville; and Pranthi Lingamneni of Irving.

In the grades 7-9 category, the winners were: First place, Alice Zhang of Manvel; second place, Annabelle Yuan of Frisco; third place, Ivan Zaklyazminskiy of Frisco.

Honorable mentions in grades 7-9 were awarded to: Chloe Chow of Southlake; Hsin-Pei Chen of Plano; Lydia Ireland of San Antonio; and Yolanda Xiong of Flower Mound.

In the grades 10-12 category, the winners were: First place, Dalia Morales of Houston; second place, Eliza Chung of Bee Cave; third place, Adrienne Wang of Houston.

Honorable mentions for grades 10-12 were awarded to: Alexandra Mossburg of New Braunfels; Rex Hawes of Bee Cave; Dorothy Valentine of Whitesboro; and Luisa Tijerina of McAllen.

Additionally, the contest has a Special Species Award category that showcases a focused species or set of species. For the 2025-2026 contest year, the focus species was the paddlefish (Polyodon spathula).

The State of Texas has protected the paddlefish since 1977, recognizing it as an imperiled species in need of conservation attention. Paddlefish numbers began to dwindle in Texas rivers beginning in the mid-1900s primarily due to changes in its habitat. Paddlefish need expansive reaches of free-flowing rivers, rocky shoals, and specific river flow patterns to successfully reproduce. TPWD is currently partnering with universities, local nongovernmental organizations, and other government agencies on population surveys, habitat improvements, and experimental stockings to help the species rebound.

This year's winner is Annabelle Yuan of Frisco, whose artwork was chosen from all entries and will be spotlighted at TFFC.

The Mighty Minnow Award celebrates the creativity and talent of kindergarten participants in the K-3 age group. This special recognition gives the youngest artists a chance to be honored for their efforts and abilities, based on age-appropriate expectations. The Texas award went to kindergartner Haasya Doddapaneni of Frisco and will also be spotlighted at TFFC.

First place winners in each of the four age groups advanced to the national level and will compete against winners from other states.

Scholarships for the first, second and third place Texas winners are awarded as follows: grades 10-12 division scholarships are $1,000 for first place, $750 for second place and $500 for third place; awards in the 4-6 and 7-9 grade levels are $200 for first, $150 for second, $100 for third; in the K-3 division awards are $100 for first, $75 for second, $50 for third.

Scholarships for Texas winners are supplemented by the Friends of Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center.

Educators who wish to have their students enter the 2027 contest can find entry forms, rules, guidelines and more online at Texas Fish Art Contest - TPWD. Learn more at www.wildlifeforever.org.

The Fish Art Contest is a project of Wildlife Forever. Based in White Bear Lake, Minnesota, Wildlife Forever is a nonprofit multispecies conservation organization dedicated to conserving America's wildlife heritage. Working at the grassroots level, Wildlife Forever has funded conservation projects in all 50 states, committing millions of dollars to "on-the-ground" efforts. Wildlife Forever supports habitat restoration and enhancement, land acquisition, research and management of fish and wildlife populations.

To view or download high resolution images of the winning artwork, visit the 2026 Fish Art Contest Album on the TPWD Flickr page.