FFI Gulf Coast Council

It’s that time of year. Bass and crappie are biting, bream about to bed, redfish moving into the shallows, speckled trout about to begin their spawning ritual. And state legislators heading to their respective capitols to take on legislation that impacts our fisheries and their habitats.

When a state legislative session kicks off, it’s high drama! This year will be particularly true for Louisiana, where an attempt to reduce the commercial menhaden buffer zone from 1/2-mile to 1/4-mile was sidelined by a legislative oversight committee. The result is that the issue of menhaden regulation in the state will be decided by a couple of bills in the 2026 session.

Outside of the Bayou State, the most interesting bills are in Alabama where legislators are attempting to curb the amount of spill dredged material into Mobile Bay, and a bill in Florida which would add an unusual requirement for some new members to the Wildlife Commission.

Here are the bills that FFI members and other conservationists need to be following:

LA SB186 – Sen. Michael Fesi – Introduced
Limits the total commercial menhaden reduction fishing catch within Louisiana territorial waters to 315 million pounds. (GCC SUPPORTS).

LA HB855 – Rep. Joseph Orgeron – Introduced.
Establishes depth requirements for the commercial use of purse seines to a minimum of 22 feet. At this depth and beyond, the bycatch of redfish by menhaden nets begins to decline. (GCC SUPPORTS).

LA SB249 – Sen. Caleb Kleinpeter – Introduced.
Constitutional amendment to add two members to the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission, to increase LWFC from 7 members to 9 members. We strongly SUPPORT this bill. Having only 7 members where 3 represent commercial interests grossly unrepresents hunters, anglers and other outdoor interests. It’s also one of the smallest commission sizes of any state. (GCC SUPPORTS).

LA HB688 – Rep. Joseph Orgeron – Introduced.
Adds Atlantic tarpon to the definition of saltwater gamefish. Would allow the LA Wildlife and Fisheries Commission to set regulations for this valuable sportfish. (GCC SUPPORTS).

MS HB628 – Died on Calendar
Would have extended the prohibition of commercial taking of Menhaden to within One Mile Of The Southern Shoreline Of The Mississippi Coastal Barrier Islands;

AL HJR270 – Pending House Rules Committee
Authorizes an independent environmental assessment by the University of South Alabama of maintenance dredging operations in Mobile Bay.

AL SB119 – Pending Senate Committee
Dredging in coastal area, requires dredged material to be used beneficially when dredged certain amounts.

FL SJR1364 – Introduced  
Directs the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to to conserve and sustainably managed all wildlife resources for the benefit of all the people, and future generations. It also adds a requirement that at least three (3) commissioners have a postgraduate degree in the field of conservation, biology, or wildlife management, -and- experience in fish or wildlife management as a current or past occupation.

An urgent reminder that this Friday is the deadline for responses to the proposed Notice of Intent (NOI) to reduce the buffer zone for industrial harvest of menhaden (pogies) from 1/2 mile to 1/4 mile.  Please read the following summary, then email your thoughts to: jadriance@wlf.la.gov

What’s at stake

While menhaden harvest has been around in Louisiana for many decades, in the past 20 years the harvest numbers have increased by over 40 percent. Louisiana is the ONLY Gulf state that doesn’t have harvest quotas or bans, and a buffer zone of less than one mile. In fact, Louisiana accounts for nearly 90 percent of the nation’s menhaden harvest!  This has resulted in a decline of offshore menhaden both in numbers and average size. Despite the industry’s claims that “pogies are overrated as a forage species”, the truth is that, for numerous species, menhaden is their prime forage. We’ve seen a serious decline in the numbers of king mackeral, Spanish mackeral and other pelagic fish that depend on menhaden.

The industry claims that the “science” shows that the bycatch of breeding size red drum (over 30,000 killed each year) and mature speckled trout (240,000 killed each year), will not increase if the current buffer zone is moved inland from a measly 1/2 mile to a 1/4 mile. That’s not necessarily true either – it depends on the water depth.  Regardless, it will NOT decrease the amount of bycatch – which is what our objective is.

* The official position of Fly Fishers International and the FFI Gulf Coast Council is that there needs to be a harvest quota of menhaden for Louisiana, much less than the current 1.3 billion pounds per year.   This would protect the forage base as well as greatly reduce the amount of bycatch. *

In the meantime, this NOI must be defeated or we’ll have even higher numbers of redfish and speckled trout killed in sets.

What you can do

• Ask the Commission to OPPOSE this NOI to reduce the harvest buffer zone. Send the comments to jadriance@wlf.la.gov.   If you submitted comments prior to January 5th, you must resubmit them again.
• Please contact your state legislators, and/or the members of the Legislative Natural Resources Committee. Here is a directory to contact legislators.
  https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Bios.aspx?cid=H
• If possible, attend the February 5th LWF Commission meeting at LDWF Headquarters in Baton Rouge.

Thank you kindly for your patience and persistence in protecting our marine fisheries!