I've heard from TX biologists on the matter. Still a very misunderstood fish. They have admitted they still don't know enough about the species but set a proactive limit of 3 per person with a 17" min to be safe.
BTW - you should see a poll from CCA LA soon on this very subject.
Here's some quotes and data on the subject:
Retired Fisheries biologist, Jerald Horst in a September 2009 article of Louisiana Sportsman, quotes well known Capt. Dudley Vandeborre, saying, "When we first started fishing them (tripletail) it was easy to see over a hundred fish a day.... Now a good day is 15 -18. It would probably be better for people to catch a few each than one really good fisherman to catch a hundred. I've put myself and my clients on a 2-fish per person limit".
State Limits on Triple Tail
1. Texas 3 per person 17" minimum
2. Georgia 2 per person 18" minimum
3. Alabama 2 per person 16" minimum
4. Florida 2 per person 15" minimum
5. Mississippi - currently working on establishing a limit
In a recent article in Tide Magazine, Zach Harvey writes that, "A common thread running through every incident of "localized depletion" is the fishing community's failure to restrain itself. Each player in the specific fishery gets in on the act because every other player is in on the act. Some know that participating in the event is morally or environmentally shaky. Then again in the face of a gold rush, who can argue that the fish won't get wiped out anyway? Where is the incentive, individuals wonder, for "me" to abstain, when fish are doomed anyway?"
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