CCA Email 06/05/2014

[keakar]

Originally Posted by T-TOP

What questions will you be asking at the meeting?


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its almost worth it for me to make a 6 hour drive down there to get hauled out in handcuffs for asking the wrong questions

[keakar]

Originally Posted by PaulMyers

That's for your area of the state.

if they make a 10 trout limit for grand isle then BL will have catch and release only or a two speck limit for sure

[T-TOP]

Originally Posted by keakar

its almost worth it for me to make a 6 hour drive down there to get hauled out in handcuffs for asking the wrong questions

That's what I thought...


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[PaulMyers]

Originally Posted by keakar

its almost worth it for me to make a 6 hour drive down there to get hauled out in handcuffs for asking the wrong questions

Shouldn't take but 3.5 to 4hrs for you to get here.

[T-TOP]

Originally Posted by PaulMyers

Shouldn't take but 3.5 to 4hrs for you to get here.

I can be in Dallas tx or Florida in 6 hours


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[PaulMyers]

Originally Posted by T-TOP

I can be in Dallas tx or Florida in 6 hours


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Kinda what I was thinking.

[T-TOP]

He must have been talking round trip... Not worth his time to bust the CCA chops in public!


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["W"]

only question I want is the truth


I want them to stop lying to the public about closing weirs for coastal conservation and marsh loss

And come out and stop lying

Just tell us the truth that it's 100% because of duck hunting

Stop freaken lying

[Smalls]

Originally Posted by "W"

only question I want is the truth


I want them to stop lying to the public about closing weirs for coastal conservation and marsh loss

And come out and stop lying

Just tell us the truth that it's 100% because of duck hunting

Stop freaken lying

My god, you just don't give up on this **** do you?

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[HenryBoy]

You better believe I'm a gunna be there! Raising hell!

Boycott CCA!!!

[T-TOP]

Originally Posted by "W"

only question I want is the truth


I want them to stop lying to the public about closing weirs for coastal conservation and marsh loss

And come out and stop lying

Just tell us the truth that it's 100% because of duck hunting

Stop freaken lying

I agree to an extent. We should know exactly how they dictate open and close the weir... What they do. Salinity checks... Then we can check and call b u l l s h $$ when it's needed.


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["W"]

Why did they open the weirs today ??

Salinity is still high
not full moon or new
Marsh is 3ft lower than lake

Is it from the pressure being put on them ??? Why did they just out of the blue open em up today ??


Salinity on lake is high !! Real high

[keakar]

Originally Posted by T-TOP

He must have been talking round trip... Not worth his time to bust the CCA chops in public!


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yes round trip:

via I-10 WWalk via I-10 WCycle via I-10 W · 188 miles2 h 52 min2 h 47min

188 miles2 h 43 min without traffic

and who the hell are you to decide who or what I feel is worth my time.

you don't know my health concerns or my financial situation or anything about me so get off your high horse and stop being judgemental of those whos situations you know nothing about.

I wont even get into the fact its in a part of the state I will never visit or make use of even though I still care deeply about fellow fishermen anywhere being treated unfairly

[marshrunner757]

I wasn't able to go. Any info on the meeting?

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[Smalls]

Originally Posted by marshrunner757

I wasn't able to go. Any info on the meeting?

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Its not til July 9th, unless I read that wrong.

Planning to make the trip from BR.

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[marshrunner757]

Oh hell. Good! I'll schedule to make it. I was thinking June!

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[MathGeek]

Originally Posted by Reefman

Looks like a near perfect assembly of persons that can get thinks done for BL. All that's needed are the fishermen to show up and voice their concerns and solutions. MathGeek, W and co. here's a great opportunity to get things rolling!

Unfortunately, I can't be in LC both on the 9th and then for the SC Tourney on the 19th. In my prioritization of fishing issues, fishing takes priority over talking about fishing, and my son and I have big plans to win the trash fish category! (That right, MathGeek is talking trash about trash fish, so bring it on!)

But I don't think it is science or math that will win the day. What is needed is a good turn out and gentle persistence (from different perspectives) regarding the essential points:

1. Fisheries should be managed based on scientific data not anecdotes and social pressure or fear that too much pressure is depleting the resource. Regulatory changes should be based on data that has been made available to the public for consideration and review.

2. Destruction of oyster reefs has hurt the fishery. The ecosystem services provided by oysters far outweigh the value of the harvested oysters taken from the reefs in the estuary. Oyster reefs are a key component to Calcasieu Lake habitat, and protecting the habitat is more important than overzealous protection of the stocks of sporting species which can recover more quickly than habitat.

3. We understand that the weirs are important to prevent further marsh loss from saltwater intrusion. But a high exchange of forage and fish between the marsh and lake is an important contributor to the food web and high production levels. The weirs should be open whenever salinity and water levels allow for the greatest exchange levels between marsh and lake. Weir openings should be driven by real time and predicted salinity and water levels.

4. The high connectivity between the ship channel and the Lake is the main cause of saltwater intrusion from the Gulf to the marsh. In the long term, rocking the ship channel to reduce this connectivity and maintain lower salinity levels in the lake will provide better protection to the marsh while allowing the weirs to be open more days per year.

5. The lowered speck limit has been an abysmal failure. Trophy trout and the size of tournament winning trout have declined since the limit change in 2005. Sabine is producing some big trout, not because of the lower trout limit, but because of abundant oyster reefs (no oysters are harvested in Sabine, and it has the best oyster reefs in the state), limited shrimping, and high levels of exchange of forage and fish with the surrounding marsh.

6. Redfish are overpopulated and talk of reducing the redfish limit will hurt the trout fishery even further because of the high level of forage overlap between the species, especially since crab numbers are low and redfish are directly competing with specks for most of the preferred trout forage sources. Protecting the resource means protecting what they eat, and overly abundant redfish will keep suppress trout populations and growth rates by both predation (eating age 0 trout) and competition for limited forage.

Calling specific parties liars may or may not be true, but it is unlikely to be productive. Remember that it is important not to lobby for a "bigger share of the pie" but to lobby for sound policies with a high probability of creating a bigger pie for all Louisiana citizens to share.

I had a polite email exchange with the oyster guy earlier today. The oyster issues really are not his fault, as oyster policy is set by a governing body, and the big tragedy in 2010 was more due to the oil spill concentrating harvest pressure than by a failure of the biologists. The governing body would do well to go back to tongs and limit the harvest, but with the rest of the state's oyster production so low, they had to make some concessions in West Cove. At least harvesting in the main lake has been closed for several years and I am optimistic that the reefs on the east side are improving.

[Smalls]

Originally Posted by MathGeek

Unfortunately, I can't be in LC both on the 9th and then for the SC Tourney on the 19th. In my prioritization of fishing issues, fishing takes priority over talking about fishing, and my son and I have big plans to win the trash fish category! (That right, MathGeek is talking trash about trash fish, so bring it on!)

But I don't think it is science or math that will win the day. What is needed is a good turn out and gentle persistence (from different perspectives) regarding the essential points:

1. Fisheries should be managed based on scientific data not anecdotes and social pressure or fear that too much pressure is depleting the resource. Regulatory changes should be based on data that has been made available to the public for consideration and review.

2. Destruction of oyster reefs has hurt the fishery. The ecosystem services provided by oysters far outweigh the value of the harvested oysters taken from the reefs in the estuary. Oyster reefs are a key component to Calcasieu Lake habitat, and protecting the habitat is more important than overzealous protection of the stocks of sporting species which can recover more quickly than habitat.

3. We understand that the weirs are important to prevent further marsh loss from saltwater intrusion. But a high exchange of forage and fish between the marsh and lake is an important contributor to the food web and high production levels. The weirs should be open whenever salinity and water levels allow for the greatest exchange levels between marsh and lake. Weir openings should be driven by real time and predicted salinity and water levels.

4. The high connectivity between the ship channel and the Lake is the main cause of saltwater intrusion from the Gulf to the marsh. In the long term, rocking the ship channel to reduce this connectivity and maintain lower salinity levels in the lake will provide better protection to the marsh while allowing the weirs to be open more days per year.

5. The lowered speck limit has been an abysmal failure. Trophy trout and the size of tournament winning trout have declined since the limit change in 2005. Sabine is producing some big trout, not because of the lower trout limit, but because of abundant oyster reefs (no oysters are harvested in Sabine, and it has the best oyster reefs in the state), limited shrimping, and high levels of exchange of forage and fish with the surrounding marsh.

6. Redfish are overpopulated and talk of reducing the redfish limit will hurt the trout fishery even further because of the high level of forage overlap between the species, especially since crab numbers are low and redfish are directly competing with specks for most of the preferred trout forage sources. Protecting the resource means protecting what they eat, and overly abundant redfish will keep suppress trout populations and growth rates by both predation (eating age 0 trout) and competition for limited forage.

Calling specific parties liars may or may not be true, but it is unlikely to be productive. Remember that it is important not to lobby for a "bigger share of the pie" but to lobby for sound policies with a high probability of creating a bigger pie for all Louisiana citizens to share.

I had a polite email exchange with the oyster guy earlier today. The oyster issues really are not his fault, as oyster policy is set by a governing body, and the big tragedy in 2010 was more due to the oil spill concentrating harvest pressure than by a failure of the biologists. The governing body would do well to go back to tongs and limit the harvest, but with the rest of the state's oyster production so low, they had to make some concessions in West Cove. At least harvesting in the main lake has been closed for several years and I am optimistic that the reefs on the east side are improving.

You got a frog in your pocket MG? Because from what I've seen around here, there are very few that understand this about the weirs. I agree with you on this, but I don't believe the majority do. That is why they keep getting blamed for the "poor fishing".

[MathGeek]

Originally Posted by Smalls

You got a frog in your pocket MG? Because from what I've seen around here, there are very few that understand this about the weirs. I agree with you on this, but I don't believe the majority do. That is why they keep getting blamed for the "poor fishing".

I think a lot of folks get the basic necessity of the weirs, but a more vocal minority prefers to trumpet an oversimplified version that basically represents the tendency to dumb down the nuances of an issue in public policy discussions.

There is room for disagreement and wide viewpoints, but I think the view I articulated above is sound from a scientific and management viewpoint, and is the one most likely to result in helping the lake by increasing the number of days each year the weirs are open.

Sentiments like "blow up the weirs" may gather some popular support among frustrated anglers, but these sentiments are unlikely to yield helpful changes in the operation.

The goals can be high and lofty, but the tone of the discussion should be sober, moderate, and well-informed.

[Smalls]

I completely agree with that viewpoint. But you have to convince people that that is in fact what the weirs are there for, and for the overwhelming majority, its not going to happen.

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