Kicking the can; this time it’s redfish

After the past three months it sure does look like the Louisiana House Oversight Committee and the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission are playing a child’s game of kick the can.

It happened with speckled trout for the past six months. Now it’s on to redfish.

In November, the House Committee turned down a proposed 18-24-inch redfish “slot” limit with a three-fish daily creel limit proposed by the commission.

That came after Wildlife and Fisheries marine biologists offered the commission an 18-27 inch length limit with a four-fish-per-day take. Current regulations allow anglers to take redfish measuring 16 inches to less than 27 inches with one redfish longer than 27 inches in a daily five-fish limit.

According to records, the House Committee returned the issue to the commission by an 8-2 vote. The State Senate Oversight Committee did not take a vote.

Sources confirmed the stumbling block was the three-redfish daily limit.

So, what did the seven-member commission do during its Thursday monthly meeting?

It kicked the can back to oversight with an 18-27 inch “slot” limit — redfish measuring longer than 27 inches must be returned to the water — and stuck to the three-fish-a-day plan and banned charterboat operators from keeping any redfish on a guided trip.

State biologists have testified redfish are not “overfished” but are undergoing “overfishing,” terms, which simplified, mean size and/or creel limits must be reduced to restore, then maintain, a healthy, regenerative redfish population in our state waters.

Biologists said this new proposal would mean a 17-year road to the recovery of redfish stocks.

Wildlife and Fisheries has scheduled a public hearing for 10 a.m. Jan 22 at the state headquarters on Quail Drive in Baton Rouge.

Again, with legislative oversight hanging in the balance, the earliest this new rule would take effect in March.

More on charters

The commission also passed a notice of intent to change possession limits on speckled trout and redfish for anglers on multiday charterboat trips.

This proposal mimics the long-established rule for recreational anglers who spend multiple days at their on-water coastal camps — three times the daily bag limit for both species.

Other terms in the proposal include:

• Providing a receipt from a licensed charter guide with fees paid and trip dates;
• That the angler has been “on the water or at a remote camp that can be accessed only by water for two days or more;”
• The fish shall be kept whole or whole gutted in separate bags for each species and the bags marked with the species, date the fish were taken, the fishing (basic and saltwater) license number for the angler; and, the fish “shall only be in the possession of the person who took the fish;
• No angler can have more than the daily bag limit while fishing.

For women

Wildlife and Fisheries is teaming with the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Foundation to offer two Women’s Fishing 101 Workshops set Jan. 27 and Jan 28 at the Waddill Wildlife Refuge on North Flannery Road in Baton Rouge.

This is seven weeks away, but there’s a Dec. 31 application deadline and these workshops fill fast. Each has a 15-woman limit.

The registration website is wlf.louisiana.gov/page/fishing-workshops

There are open to women 18 and older and cover a variety of skills and education in classes covering fish identification, tackle and cleaning and cooking fish.

Red snapper

Through Nov. 26, Louisiana’s private recreational take of red snapper is up to 845,951 pounds. That’s 88,636 pounds shy of our state’s 934,587-pound annual allocation. The season must end Dec. 31.

The report came from Wildlife and Fisheries through LA Creel data survey estimates.