Randy Pausina, assistant secretary for the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, agrees. Pausina came up through the ranks as a fisheries biologist getting his hip boots wet and hands dirty in the marshy muck behind the old Grand Terre marine research laboratory.
Randy Pausina
He said eliminating the guides' take from charter creels might be socially desirable, but it wouldn't cause any discernible increase in speckled trout and redfish stocks.
"It would be maybe a good gesture, but as far as conservation goes, it wouldn't have much of an impact," Pausina said. "Most people, including guides, think that they account for more fishing mortality than they really do."
need to shake this fellow's hand when you run across him, he is always on point
