Louisiana will tighten harvest restrictions on redfish

Starting June 20, for the first time since the 1980s, new restrictions will apply to the harvest and size of Louisiana’s popular rockfish. The new regulations are being implemented to improve the state’s redfish population, which state fisheries biologists and managers say has declined recently.

Changes in regulations include: four red wines per person per day (decreased from five), with a minimum size of 18 inches (increased from 16 inches). The maximum size of a keeper redfish will be 2 feet, with no exceptions – a change from previous rules that allowed one fish over 2 feet to be harvested. Charter captains and crews are prohibited from keeping fish during a chartered day on the water with clients. (Previously it was common for redfish guides to fish on a charter trip and keep their own limit).

Louisiana’s Wildlife and Fisheries Department has intensively studied rockfish in recent years. Last March, the agency indicated that a 2022 assessment found that a reduction in rockfish limits was necessary to maintain a healthy fishery. That LKRW assessment showed:

• The red drum stock is not overfished (depleted), but overfishing does occur.
• Overfishing has occurred regularly over the past ten years (80%).
• Spawning potential began to decline in 2005.
• Recent recreational landings are at their lowest level since the 1980s.
• Current estimates of rockfish recruitment are at the lowest levels ever observed and have been declining since 1994

Fishermen, guides and others interested in fishing have had ongoing discussions about what new limits should be implemented. Some fishing guides say reducing limits will hurt business, and that the main problem is habitat loss, not overfishing. The state has a recreational fishing industry that has $2.5 billion in economic impact and supports nearly 18,000 jobs, according to the L’Observateur. Recreational fishermen targeting redfish spend an average of $1,100 per day there.

While not everyone agrees with the coming restrictions, some longtime Louisiana guides and fishermen hope the tightening will benefit Louisiana’s fishing industry, which is still considered one of the best in the world.

“My opinion doesn’t really matter, it’s the state fisheries managers and biologists who know the most about the health of our redfish,” says experienced guide Mike Frenette. Living outside. “It is the resource we must protect. If we have to catch a few fewer fish, that’s no problem. Oh well, most of my customers release their fish anyway, especially the big females.”

Frenette, 68 years old, has been a guide for 39 years. He owns the Redfish Lodge of Louisiana in Venice.

“I remember years ago when commercial redfish nets almost wiped out the population, and we weren’t even legally allowed to keep redfish,” he says. “That was during the blackened rockfish craze.

“Since then, the population has returned, fish stocks have improved and boundaries have expanded. Now if we need to tighten up a little bit to help the resource, then that’s what we need to do. Heck, keeping four rockfish per person, per day, is enough fish to take home.

Many Louisiana fishermen, including Frenette, say the biggest problem for redfish and other game fish stocks is habitat loss. Salt water intrusion has reduced grass beds in coastal nursery areas. And coastal areas continue to be washed away by storms and high tides. According to the Coalition to Restore Louisiana’s Coastline, The state has lost more than 1 million acres of wetlands and barrier coastlines since 1900 due to natural processes and human activity. Louisiana’s coastal wetlands are now on the brink of collapse; Over the past fifty years, more than 1,500 square kilometers of coastal habitat have disappeared. year (an area larger than the state of Rhode Island).

Read next: Nearly a million dead fish are washing up on the Louisiana coast, and commercial fishing boats are to blame

“Bycatch from menhaden purse seine vessels is also devastating to red drum and many other marine species along the Louisiana coast,” Frenette said. “There is a lot of pressure on the redfish stock, and anglers can help by reducing their catch.

“I love what I do: live to fish and catch reds. If we want to continue that for our children and grandchildren, we have to do what is right for the fish today so that we have rockfish tomorrow.”