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Originally Posted by FF_T_Warren

ok I understand all that but the primary purpose of this thread was about tagging fish and being a conservationist. Well so far I've seen no relation between the two. Plotting migration habits has no relevance to conservation nor deciding limits as far as I can tell and from reading the replies on here

The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries joined the Louisiana Cooperative Marine Sport Fish Tagging Program in 2004. The program was initiated by the Louisiana Coastal Conservation Association Tagging Program in 1985. The two main objectives of the tagging program are: (1) to establish a sound marine sport fish tag and recapture program utilizing a diverse cooperative program specifically designed to employ and educate anglers, and (2) to improve our understanding of marine sport fish movements, patterns of habitat use, and population dynamics. This tagging program is currently a cooperative effort between eight cooperators: Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries; two local universities: LSU’s Coastal Fisheries Institute and Agricultural Extension Program, and UNO’s Nekton Research Lab; two local conservation groups: Coastal Conservation Association of Louisiana (CCA) and the Recreational Fisheries Research Institute (RFRI); Louisiana Sea Grant; and the Audubon Aquarium of the Americas (AAOA). The program is 75% funded by a US Fish and Wildlife Service, Federal Aid in Sport Fish Restoration grant.
Our management goal is to maximize recreational benefits while conserving and protecting renewable aquatic resources for present and future generations of Louisiana anglers. Data gathered from this tagging project may be used to evaluate the effects of environmental changes on life in Louisiana’s estuaries. Critical issues such as coastal erosion, wetland loss, freshwater diversion projects, and hurricanes will also be addressed.
We are always recruiting additional recreational anglers for the Louisiana Cooperative Marine Sport Fish Tagging Program. The success of this project is largely dependent on volunteer recreational anglers fishing in any of Louisiana’s coastal areas. We ask that you help spread the word to anglers that may be willing to be volunteer taggers of red drum or spotted seatrout for our program. Please inform them about the tagging project, and forward me contact information that you may have for them. All volunteer anglers will be trained on proper tagging techniques to ensure the survivability of the tagged fish after handling. Volunteer recreational anglers will also be instructed as to what reporting requirements will be expected such as accurate GPS locations within a one mile radius for tracking purposes.
The tagging program will supply all tags and tag applicators for volunteer anglers. In appreciation for their efforts, volunteer anglers will receive a program baseball cap or t-shirt, a quarterly newsletter, a program poster, and will be given access to the tagging community web-site. Additional prizes may be awarded to volunteer anglers depending on the number of fish tagged annually and if a fish that was tagged by them is reported as a recapture.