FFI Gulf Coast Council

Yesterday at their October meeting, the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission adopted a Notice of Intent (NOI) to change speckled trout regulations.

• Current: 12-inch minimum size / 25 daily bag limit
• Proposed: 13.5-inch minimum size / 15 daily bag limit

When adopted, this rule will become statewide, removing the separate regulations in coastal western Louisiana.  The Commission’s adoption of an NOI is the first step in promulgating a final rule, which is usually adopted in 90 days. Comments to the proposed rule may be submitted before December 30, 2022. The full notice of intent can be found here:
http://ow.ly/SvVo50L3FZe

At the Commission meeting, biologist Jason Adriance reiterated some of the data given since the issue of recruitment failure arose three years ago. He also addressed some of the comments received during the past weeks. With regards to concerns that increasing size would result in much greater propotional harvest of females to males, his data showed that increasing to 13.5 inches would only result in a 3 percent increase greater harvest. With regards to concerns that guide limits contribute to a substantial harvest, the data showed that eliminating guide limits would have less than 1-percent increase in spawning biomass.

Adriance pointed out that we are at our lowest proportion of age 3+ fish in the history of stock assessment, with only 5-percent of female trout reaching age 3. This is critical because, at age 3 or roughly 14 inches, all female trout have spawned at least one season, and in some cases, 2 seasons. At 13.5 inches and a 15-fish limit, the increase in spawning stock would be 20 percent – the goal needed to recover to above the conservation standard.

Nearly all of the 20 persons who commented after the presentation were in favor of a 15 daily bag limit. There was approximately 2-to-1 in favor of keeping the minimum size limit at 12 inches. Many of the respondents stated that Louisiana needs to fix the problems that are causing reduced numbers of trout and even redfish. Among the causes cited: coastal erosion, pollution, menhaden overharvest, freshwater diversions, too many sharks, etc.. As pointed out by Commission members, these are beyond the scope of LDWF and will likely take much longer to resolve, and for now, changing limits is the only viable solution.

The FFI Gulf Coast Council had supported a 14-inch minimum size limit, with either a 15-fish or 20-fish bag limit. Either bag limit would’ve elevated to well above the conservation standard. However, a 13.5″, 15-trout limit will suffice and we plan to endorse the NOI fully. We strongly encourage ALL FFI members and members of FFI clubs to join along with us, and email your support for the biologists recommendation.

At their upcoming monthly meeting on Thursday, October 6, the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission will consider a Notice of Intent (NOI) to modify limits on speckled trout. Currently the daily bag limit is 25 fish with a 12 inch minimum size, except for the Calcasieu/Sabine estuaries where the daily limit is 15.   A NOI is a proposal that must go through a period of public comment for 90 days, after which it can be voted on by the Commission into regulation.

As we’ve documented here before (CLICK HERE), the recruitment of spawning spotted seatrout in Louisiana has been below the conservation standard for nearly 8 years.  Many of us have witnessed first-hand the decline in speckled trout fishing over the past decade.  There are several factors for this, but none of the solutions can be easily addressed.

At this time, the only viable solution is to increase the number of juvenile trout entering the fishery. LDWF biologists have proposed several scenarios which encompass either (a) increasing the size limit, (b) lowering the daily creel limit, (c) some combination of both.

After attending the first trout assessment meeting and a couple of public meetings involving the issue, we at the FFI Gulf Coast Council drafted a letter of support for a 14-inch minimum size limit, with either a 15 or 20 fish daily bag limit.  We continue to support a 14-inch minimum size limit as the only viable solution to this problem.

Our friends at CCA Louisiana are pushing for a 12-inch, 15 daily bag limit.  Their press release stated, “The CCA Louisiana’s Science Committee and many others have concerns about the impact on female trout if a shift to a larger minimum size adjustment occurs. Moving to a 13-inch or 13.5-inch minimum size seems drastic and unnecessary. Such a change could damage the female population, and have tremendous negative impacts…”.

As you can see from the graph, CCA’s position is not only invalid, but their language is overly dramatic. Yes, male trout grow slower and not as large as female trout. But a male trout reaches 14 inches only a few months after its female counterpart. After which, there are nearly equal numbers of harvestable male trout as there are female trout, even if the average male size is smaller than the female for a given age.

What’s more, CCA’s science doesn’t jive with the science of fisheries managers of 9 other states that regulate spotted seatrout. NONE of those states have a minimum size less than 14 inches. What does CCA know that they don’t?

Here’s what we on the GCC Conservation Committee know: that at 14 inches, a female trout has spawned several times and laid more than sufficient eggs to perpetuate the species even under moderately-high fishing pressure.  And that, based on the LDWF biologists data, retaining a 12-inch limit would have minimal effect unless the daily limit is drastically lowered  (like to 10 fish).

Please let the LWF Commission know what you support a 14″ minimum size limit. We also encourage members to attend the Commission meeting on October 6th at 9:30 at LDWF Headquarters on 2000 Quail Dr in Baton Rouge, or to email your comments at comments@wlf.la.gov