Thoughts on CCA meeting tonight on state of Calcasieu fishery

[MathGeek]

It's time to discuss some potential action items and ask for people to step up as volunteers to support what could be a successful grassroots effort toward bringing positive change (or at least slow down negative changes). Here is one way of organizing efforts:

Oyster Reef Restoration and Protection

Science: MathGeek and FishGeek continue to acquire necessary funding, make data requests, analyze data and distribute results, plan and execute 2015 study, etc.

Documentation of dredging and regulatory non-compliance: Guides, West Cove Anglers

Bring good cameras and start taking pictures.

Advocacy: It's generally considered bad form for the scientists on a project to have too big a role in related advocacy issues. We need someone to step up and take ownership of advocating for change with the LWFC and the legislature over direct oyster management issues. The same or a different person might handle interfacing with the press and with HHS. I think I can take the lead in advocating the removal of limits on black drum to reduce predation pressure. I am also willing to help draft and edit letters to various parties, provide data summaries and talking points, and be some scientific muscle behind the angler advocacy.

Weir Management

Science: Smalls and MathGeek - request data on historical openings and closings (via CCA first, then CPRA directly), compare historical openings and closings with management plan and documented salinity, tides, water levels to quantify track record of compliance/non-compliance and prepare report for distribution. Smalls, can you volunteer some of that time and talent to collaborate with me on this? I already have a letter to CCA drafted asking them to request the data.

Field Reports: We expect possible challenges in obtaining reliable data on historical openings. We would like guides and anglers to support our analysis by providing reliable reports of observed openings and closings including: date, time, location, observed gates open, observed gates closed, observed flow conditions (no flow, inward flow, outward flow, flow speed estimate in ft/s from observing floating debris and distance covered in 10 seconds). Once we have a few hundred days of accurate field reports, we can compare actual activity with the management plan. If Smalls is willing to work with me, we can develop a standardized form to assist guides and anglers in reporting gate openings and closures. A show of hands on who is willing to observe and submit regular field reports would be very helpful.

Erosion and Channel Dredging

Need a couple of people to step up and take a leadership role here. Some reasonable goals are to advocate for spoils from dredging to be used to rebuild a land barrier on the E side of ship channel to separate lower lake from ship channel and to rock the border between lower channel and land to prevent spoils from re-entering the channel.

CCA/S.T.A.R. Boycott

Bucking seems to have the lead on this. We need some other volunteers to develop and execute a plan for extending the boycott to businesses and sponsors next year, and consider how we might help the boycott get more traction in SE Louisiana.

Return to Science and Data Driven Fisheries Management

Needs some core leaders/organizers

This is a grassroots effort that needs to include a healthy contribution from all parties writing letters to LWC members, CCA, and state representatives. Attending CCA meetings and LWC meetings will also be useful. Important talking points are lack of public stock assessment data, unscientific tripletail regs (based on Mississippi life history data with no LA life history or stock assessment), unscientific reduction in speck limit in Calcasieu in 2005, unscientific black drum limit, mistake (since corrected) imposing restrictive largemouth bass limits in Atchafalaya Basin, temptations at knee jerk impositions of additional restrictions on redfish and spotted seatrout.

We can always discuss talking points on SC the day or two before important meetings.

Short term goals should be removing limit on black drum and return of SWLA speck limits to 25 per day. Long term goal is open, science based, data driven management.

Let's get some people volunteering, and then maybe we can develop more concrete strategies at the tourney.