Earlier today, the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission (LWFC) held their monthly meeting at the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) headquarters on Quail Drive in Baton Rouge. On the agenda was a presentation by LDWF Marine Fisheries Biologist Jason Adriance on the latest Spotted Seatrout (speckled trout) Assessment conducted by the department.
The Bad
Back in March, news of the preliminary assessment leaked out, and it was grim. For many coastal anglers who pursue speckled trout, it reaffirmed their experiences and frustrations. That is, fewer trout and much fewer big trout.
The assessment went through a slight revision since March, but there was little change in the results. According to Adriance:
– we’ve been overfishing trout since 2014
– the vast majority of trout caught last year were barely mature fish
– recreational landings are their lowest level ever in recorded history
– spawning stock biomass is at it’s lowest level ever
– female spawning recruitment is at it’s lowest level ever
The following graphs were part of the presentation:
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Female Spawning Stock Biomass
As you can see, we’re not only below the target (management) standard since 2012, but have been below the conservation standard since 2014. The last time we were below the target standard was when gill nets were still legal. Once they were banned, we jumped back way up above the target level. |
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Spawning Potential Ratio
This graph mirrors the female spawning stock biomass graph. It should be noted that all other Gulf states manage for sustainable yield (target) of at least 20 percent. We manage for 14 percent. |
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Proportion of Population Age 3+
This graph mirrors the female spawning stock biomass graph. There is a correlation. Age 3 females are the prime spawners. They lay roughly three times as many eggs per year as a single juvenile trout. |
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Fishing Mortality Rate
Here we want the black line to be below the yellow line. Anything above the yellow line means we’re killing more fish that our conservation target. Above the red line means we are jeopardizing stock recovery. |
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Kobe Plot
This chart is known as a Kobe plot, a determination of fishing mortality to spawning biomass. We want to be within the yellow box… that means lots of trout and many prime spawners – within the carrying capacity of the estuary. As you can see, we’ve been in the “overfishing” zones every year since 2011. |
The good
Adriance and the other marine biologists at LDWF believe they know the causes of the decline. That may not sound like good news. But think of it like a medical condition. If you know the symptoms and you know the cause, there’s hope for a cure.
Overfishing is definitely one culprit. The number of saltwater fishing stamps has increased since the late 90s, and has remained fairly steady the last few years. But the number of special licenses – which exempt the saltwater stamp – have increased dramatically during the last decade. Assuming half of those license holders fish saltwater (many are the guide customer stamps) then we’ve seen a fairly moderate increase in the number of saltwater anglers. Another factor: LDWF notes that there’s more days/hours fishing per angler than a decade ago. Hence, total fishing pressure has increased.
But here’s a cause no one expected – winter kills. The graph shows what’s happening.
The blue bars represent winter kills of speckled trout.
We had two events in 1983 and 1989 where temperatures were below freezing for at least 48 hours. A very large number of speckled trout were killed. The following year saw a huge decline in the numbers of trout caught. The second year after we saw a rebound.
Since 1990, we’ve had milder winters, yet the frequency and scope of winter kills has still increased. The biologists are not exactly sure, but their theory is that, with coastal erosion, most of the deep water canals and interior lakes that trout sheltered in during cold snaps is gone. More trout are exposed to damaging cold.
The Ugly
LDWF will come back with an analysis on potential options to increase stock. According to Adriance, those options will be “signficant and likely controversial”.
After the presentation, I found out just how controversial they might be.
I went to speak to one commissioner about another topic on the agenda. There was a gentleman ahead of me. He was telling that commissioner that we needed to keep speckled trout as it was. “Whose gonna go fishing just to catch 10 or 15 trout?”.
The commissioner responded that “Florida and Texas are all about big trout. We’re about numbers. A guy in Shreveport isn’t going to come down to the coast unless he can catch 25 trout.”.
And that, my friends, is what we’re up against. A meat haul mentality. They are a small minority, but they are VERY vocal.
I’ve seen on bulletin boards since the initial reports came out earlier this year, and some folks not only oppose ANY changes to the 25 limit, they want to raise the 15 limit on Calcasieu and Sabine back to 25. Even worse, some posters have even suggested eliminating the minimum size limit.
I spoke to the CCA delegation after the meeting. They plan to look at the LDWF options and get behind a specific plan. I told them that the FFI Gulf Coast Council would look at that plan, and if it achieves our conservation goals, we would back it. The strategy will be to get other organizations behind it as well and present a united front to the public and to the legislature.
But we’ll have our work cut out for us. The Meat Haul Mentality won’t go away without a fight.
