I think the best interests of the ecosystem will be served well if we focus on the task at hand rather than the usual swipes, insults, and rhetoric. Please attend via webinar if you cannot attend in person. In your email follow-up on the meeting, please be restrained and focus on several action items:
1. Close Calcasieu Lake to Oystering in the 2014-2015 oyster season. The data shows the oyster reefs are in abysmal shape, and oysters provide essential ecosystem services that benefit other fisheries and the overall health of the estuary.
2. Double the recreational and commercial limits on black drum (or eliminate the limits completely). Black drum exert tremendous predation pressure on oysters making it difficult for the over harvested reefs to recover. Black drum are in no danger of extirpation, and reducing numbers state wide will assist with oyster stock recovery.
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