Quote:
Originally Posted by Reefman
Looks like a near perfect assembly of persons that can get thinks done for BL. All that's needed are the fishermen to show up and voice their concerns and solutions. MathGeek, W and co. here's a great opportunity to get things rolling!
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Unfortunately, I can't be in LC both on the 9th and then for the SC Tourney on the 19th. In my prioritization of fishing issues, fishing takes priority over talking about fishing, and my son and I have big plans to win the trash fish category! (That right, MathGeek is talking trash about trash fish, so bring it on!)
But I don't think it is science or math that will win the day. What is needed is a good turn out and gentle persistence (from different perspectives) regarding the essential points:
1. Fisheries should be managed based on scientific data not anecdotes and social pressure or fear that too much pressure is depleting the resource. Regulatory changes should be based on data that has been made available to the public for consideration and review.
2. Destruction of oyster reefs has hurt the fishery. The ecosystem services provided by oysters far outweigh the value of the harvested oysters taken from the reefs in the estuary. Oyster reefs are a key component to Calcasieu Lake habitat, and protecting the habitat is more important than overzealous protection of the stocks of sporting species which can recover more quickly than habitat.
3. We understand that the weirs are important to prevent further marsh loss from saltwater intrusion. But a high exchange of forage and fish between the marsh and lake is an important contributor to the food web and high production levels. The weirs should be open whenever salinity and water levels allow for the greatest exchange levels between marsh and lake. Weir openings should be driven by real time and predicted salinity and water levels.
4. The high connectivity between the ship channel and the Lake is the main cause of saltwater intrusion from the Gulf to the marsh. In the long term, rocking the ship channel to reduce this connectivity and maintain lower salinity levels in the lake will provide better protection to the marsh while allowing the weirs to be open more days per year.
5. The lowered speck limit has been an abysmal failure. Trophy trout and the size of tournament winning trout have declined since the limit change in 2005. Sabine is producing some big trout, not because of the lower trout limit, but because of abundant oyster reefs (no oysters are harvested in Sabine, and it has the best oyster reefs in the state), limited shrimping, and high levels of exchange of forage and fish with the surrounding marsh.
6. Redfish are overpopulated and talk of reducing the redfish limit will hurt the trout fishery even further because of the high level of forage overlap between the species, especially since crab numbers are low and redfish are directly competing with specks for most of the preferred trout forage sources. Protecting the resource means protecting what they eat, and overly abundant redfish will keep suppress trout populations and growth rates by both predation (eating age 0 trout) and competition for limited forage.
Calling specific parties liars may or may not be true, but it is unlikely to be productive. Remember that it is important not to lobby for a "bigger share of the pie" but to lobby for sound policies with a high probability of creating a bigger pie for all Louisiana citizens to share.
I had a polite email exchange with the oyster guy earlier today. The oyster issues really are not his fault, as oyster policy is set by a governing body, and the big tragedy in 2010 was more due to the oil spill concentrating harvest pressure than by a failure of the biologists. The governing body would do well to go back to tongs and limit the harvest, but with the rest of the state's oyster production so low, they had to make some concessions in West Cove. At least harvesting in the main lake has been closed for several years and I am optimistic that the reefs on the east side are improving.