Copyright 1999 - 2020 Louisiana Sportsman, Inc. All rights reserved.
Recreational Size and Creel Limits - March 2020 Current Fishing Seasons and Closures (NOAA Website). something to look at adding a parameter to consider the effects of hard winters on speckled trout.“We also sent this index out for review to members of the Gulf of Mexico Fisheries Management Council,” he said.Due to the high fishing mortality and reduced stocks in the recent assessment, anglers will see changes in trout regulations since the trends have remained the same, even with a corrected, revised analysis, according to Banks.Speckled trout are managed in south-central and southeastern Louisiana with a 25-fish daily creel limit and a 12-inch size minimum. “Some of the trends we’re seeing are in the same direction, but the scales may change.“We are using maximum sustainable yield (MSY) in order to maximize the yield — as much harvest as we can not to affect recruitment.”In Figure 1, SBB refers to spawning stock biomass: the combined weight of all speckled trout in Louisiana waters that are capable of reproducing.LDWF estimates that the number of reproducing trout has dropped steeply since 2013 to approximately 3 million pounds in 2019. Daily bag is 5 fish except from Nov. 1-30, when the daily bag limit is 2 fish and flounder may be taken only by pole-and-line; and from December 1-14, when the daily bag limit is 2 fish and flounder may be taken by any legal means, including gigging. Blanchet had no comment on that speculation.The new SPR percentage range may also reflect a change in the state’s philosophy moving forward to manage Louisiana’s speckled trout as chiefly a recreational gamefish species, apart from the commercial/recreational model of the past.Figure 3 looks at recreational and commercial landings of speckled trout over the years. SPECIES Minimum Length in Inches Number of Fish Bag/Possession Cobia 36 FL 2 Flounder 12 TL 10 Red Drum ♦ 18 TL to 30 TL** 3 Spotted Seatrout 15 … Recreational Catch Limits Read More » The 5% SPR may be too low, but Blanchet would not commit to offering the revised data.Regarding the target and limit lines, it is unclear whether this scale represents a new range of SPRs that spawning trout populations would fall in before new management decisions are warranted.
In western Louisiana — the Mermentau/Calcasieu/Sabine basins — anglers may keep only 15 trout daily, with a 12-inch size minimum and no more than two fish per day longer than 25 inches. That regulation was implemented to try and retain large speckled trout and create quality trout fisheries in Calcasieu and Sabine lakes.All other Gulf Coast states offer more-conservative harvest restrictions and standards.