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Originally Posted by Natural Light Kid

Says the scientist.

Big problems at Big Lake?
Trout anglers could face new restrictions in southwest Louisiana

By AL ROGERS
RodnReel.com
BATON ROUGE, La. - A proposal to lower daily recreational fishing limits on spotted seatrout from 25 to 15 fish in a southwest Louisiana region will be discussed and likely voted on Thursday morning by the Louisiana Department of Wildlife & Fisheries (DWF) Commission.

The seven-member gubernatorial-appointed panel will consider issuing an official Notice of Intent at DWF headquarters at 2000 Quail Drive at 9:30 a.m. The board will hear a presentation by state biologists as well as opinions and concerns from anglers and guides in the Lake Calcasieu or Big Lake area, the region where the regulations are being proposed. The proposal comes in the wake of an unprecedented ruling by the commission last spring that restricted anglers here from harvesting only two speckled trout per person, per day, larger than 25 inches.

Proponents claim the initiative is a conservation effort intended to improve what they see as a declining fishery south of Lake Charles. For generations this area has been regarded as one of the top trophy trout estuaries on the northern Gulf Coast. However, in recent years some guides and anglers say the fishing here is only a glimmer of what it once was. The guides joined forces with Coastal Conservation Association (CCA) - Louisiana and allies on the DWF commission to help bring the measure to a vote.

If the resolution passes by a majority vote it will then be subject to a 120-day public comment period before DWF commissioners make a final decision.

Meanwhile, some of the top marine fisheries scholars on the Gulf Coast claim that there is nothing to indicate that anything is wrong at Big Lake. In addition, some sources with the DWF claim that the initiative is more about public opinion and politics, rather than biology or fisheries science.

"We're not seeing any problems with trout in that area," said Harry Blanchet, finfish program manager with the DWF. "We're not seeing any declines in biomass or the abundance of speckled trout in Lake Calcasieu."

Two of the most outspoken proponents of the new regulations are DWF commissioners Henry Mouton of Lafayette and Fred Miller of Shreveport. Both Mouton and Miller have served as presidents of CCA-Louisiana. Mouton said he believes the vast majority of guides and anglers in southwest Louisiana are behind the measure.

"Last spring I starting getting calls from guides like Capt. Buddy Oakes with Hackberry Rod & Gun Club and Capt. Eric Rue with Calcasieu Charters," Mouton said Tuesday. "Then I started to talk to a lot of the recreationals who told me that the lake has changed dramatically."

Mouton, who describes himself as a staunch CCA supporter, said polls conducted by the conservation association indicated that more than 70 percent of recreational anglers and guides in the Lake Charles area supported reducing the limit from 25 to 15 speckled trout. Louisiana's limit was reduced to 25 per person per day in 1988. The newly formed Gulf Coast Conservation Association (GCCA), which later became part of the CCA, was influential in the change.

In a report posted on RodnReel.com on Jan. 4, Mouton wrote, "it was not CCA that asked that this issue be brought forward, it was hundreds of recreational fishermen that fish Big Lake." The 26-year member of CCA said he began to realize the concern of anglers after holding a series of meetings since last spring. In his report Mouton said: "Most (anglers) wanted to go to 10 to 12 fish - but I think 15 fish is a fair number."

He said only the southwestern region was being targeted for the new regulations - for now.

"I will tell you that I have had calls from many fishermen and guides that fish southeast Louisiana asking me to reduce the limits statewide," Mouton added in his report. "But that is NOT something we are looking at doing at this time."

RodnReel.com publisher Mike Lane questioned the practice of using public opinion to manage Louisiana's inland and coastal fisheries.

"Is this not a dangerous precedent?" Lane asked. "It doesn't make good sense to strip the control from our scientists and to take our directives from public opinion."

And not all veteran guides in the Big Lake area are in support of the resolution.

"We're opposed to it," said Capt. Mary Poe, who co-owns Big Lake Guide Service. "There's no science behind it. And they're saying they're doing this in the name of conservation. We're catching more fish now in the lake that we ever have."

Poe suggested that efforts should be focused on more important issues, such as removing dangerous debris from the lake left by Hurricane Rita.

"Look, I've been one of the biggest proponents of CCA for years but this issue is a little one-sided," Poe said. "There are a handful of people trying to push this through and much of it was done very secretively. And the data is skewed. That poll they're talking about was taken by 1,000 members of CCA."

Louisiana still has some of the most liberal bag limits of speckled trout along the Gulf Coast. If the 15 fish limit becomes law in southwest Louisiana it would still be five more than the 10 that can legally be harvested, per day, per angler, in Texas.

"A lot of this came from the younger guys in CCA," Mouton said. "They said 'we've heard a lot about the great old days when you could catch several ice chests of fish.' Now a lot of the guides are struggling to catch their limits."

Few would argue that Big Lake is overfished with many anglers arriving from neighboring Texas, and states throughout the southeastern United States. Oakes, a veteran guide on Big Lake, estimates that more than 80 percent of his fishing business comes from the east - mostly Texas clients.

However Poe said that most of her clients are from Louisiana. And if new limits are imposed she claims she would lose customers who will go to other parts of the state where the 25-trout bag limit would remain unchanged.

"We'd be all for it if it were statewide," Poe said. "But to restrict one part of the state is not fair. I don't think this has anything at all to do with conservation."

On Tuesday afternoon Blanchet, was preparing a presentation for Thursday's commission meeting. While he wouldn't comment on anything outside the realm of science, he admitted that fisheries management can often be a delicate "juggling act" between social and economic issues.

Other experts say because our fisheries are managed for the people, public opinion often dictates management styles.

"We live in a democracy," said Randy Pausina, DWF biologist. "If that's what the majority of the people want - and it's not going to have a negative impact on the fisheries, they can bring it to the commission for a decision.

The bottom line is that if the new limits go into effect there will be more fish in the water. And Blanchet said that's not necessarily a bad thing. However, he warned: "With no harvest there are no benefits."

Blanchet's presentation will likely point to natural mortality rates, which is especially high among the younger, spawning speckled trout.

"It's certainly not going to destroy the species if you reduce the total harvest," he said. "This species (Cynoscion nebulosus) has lived for thousands - perhaps hundreds of thousands of years before (humans) began harvesting them"

Meanwhile, Mouton said he would still support the change - even if the biologists claim the creel reduction will have little or no impact on the fishery in Lake Calcasieu.

"I would still want to go forward with it," Mouton said. "We've got some great biologists here. But (marine biology) is not an inexact science."

Much of the uproar has come guides and anglers who claim that fewer trophy trout are being caught. But the academics say big trout are cyclical, and we are now reaching the end of a trophy trout cycle, or run. Many of these wallhangers began began their life cycles in banner recruitment years that were spawned by optimum growing conditions from 1998 to 2000.

"During (that period) there was a drought," Blanchet said. "There was warm water, very dry conditions and high salinities."

From a scientific stance, biologists remain uncertain if the new regulation will ultimately increase stocks of speckled trout off the Louisiana coast. But they are sure of one thing - it certainly will not hurt.