FFI Gulf Coast Council

The Florida Wildlife Commission is holding virtual public meetings this month to review black crappie regulations. The purpose of these meetings is to seek stakeholder input – by region – on a draft Black Crappie Management Plan, which utilizes a thorough review of the existing scientific literature and extensive communication with crappie anglers.

For members of the FFI Gulf Coast Council in northwest Florida, the meeting for all impoundments in the Northwest Region Management Zone is Tuesday, February 23. Time is 6:00pm to 8:00pm Central Time.

The meeting will be conducted via Microsoft Teams. To participate, send an email to crappie@myfwc.com and provide your name, email address, phone number, and which meeting you would like to attend. A link will be emailed back to you. Click on the link to join the meeting.

A copy of the Black Crappie Management Plan is available at this link.

Black crappie (Pomoxis Nigromaculatus) is a highly-valued game fish, popular with anglers during winter and spring. It spawns once per year, when water temperatures are between 64 and 72 degrees, with females laying anywhere from 11,000 to 188,000 eggs. While quite fecund, the spawn is highly susceptible to environmental conditions, sometimes resulting in erratic year classes. Recent studies show that stricter limits tend to smooth out highly cyclical recruitment. In deep South waters, crappie grow quite fast, reaching a length of 9″ at age 2, and 12″ at age 3.

Paul B. Johnson State Park near Hattiesburg

Today I received the latest newsletter from the Southeast Chapter of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving and sustaining public lands and waters for outdoorsmen. Of great concern was an article about Mississippi Senate Bill 2486. This bill will be heard by the Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks Committee during the Spring legislative session. If approved by the Committee, it will be voted on by both houses, and if passed, up for signature by the governor.

The bill would transfer management of several state parks to the county or city in which the park is located. Some parks would be converted to a WMA or fishing-only lake. Some parks would be reverted back to the Corps of Engineers. Other parks would be transferred to private management.

A good number of popular small fishing lakes such as Lincoln, Natchez, Paul Johnson, and Percy Quinn – home of our annual Sweetwater Classic – are included in the bill. In some cases, the proposed change could be for the better. However, there are recent cases where management transfer of public parks and lakes have been for the worse – much worse. For example, if a local body isn’t able to fund the park, it will close.  Such was the case with Hodges Garden State Park in Louisiana, home to some of the best trophy bass and redear sunfish in the state.

The question that the GCC Conservation Director will be asking is, why is this necessary? Are there budget concerns? It seems that self-funded agencies like MWDFP should be able to make these determinations and act accordingly based on public input. Rather than have legislators making these decisions.