The Advocate. June 25, 2024.
Editorial: In the end, regulators got it right on redfish limits
Louisiana has perhaps no more iconic fish than the redfish.
Demand for the popular sport fish exploded in the 1980s, when famed New Orleans chef Paul Prudhomme’s blackened redfish recipe earned worldwide renown. That popularity contributed to a period of intense fishing and eventually led to the end of commercial redfishing in Louisiana in 1988.
Regulations on what anglers can keep haven’t been changed since that time. In recent years, as anglers complained about it being harder to catch redfish, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries began studying the problem. On Thursday, the first new regulations on redfish limits since 1988 took effect, lowering the number of redfish each fisher can keep and eliminating the exemptions for the bigger sizes that have reaching spawning maturity.
The process to change the regulations has been slow and at times controversial. A scientific study completed in 2022 found that the proportion of redfish who made it offshore to spawn was around 1 in 5, whereas the federal standard is closer to 1 in 3. The number of redfish caught in 2021 was the lowest since the 1980s.
Biologists and conservationists urged officials to lower fishing limits to help rejuvenate the population.
That proposal was vigorously opposed by charter captains who said the new regulations would hurt business, especially because the state has also reduced limits on speckled trout, another popular sport fish. Those captains have argued, often passionately, that they are on the water every day and have seen no dip in population or catchability.
We are sympathetic to the charter boat captains. Like many who derive their primary income from coastal fisheries, they may feel as if their livelihoods are under attack from all sides: government regulators, coastal advocates and land loss, which is slowly eating away at Louisiana’s coastline, eroding crucial habitat for many species including redfish.
A decision has been some time in coming. The Wildlife and Fisheries Commission originally proposed lowering the limit per angler from five to three, something legislators rejected. Under a revised proposal, each fisher in a boat will have a limit of four redfish. Each fish must be between 18 and 27 inches. The old size minimum was 16 inches. And an exception that allowed each angler to keep one redfish longer than 27 inches has been eliminated. Charter captains and crew will not be allowed to keep redfish.
We believe the new limits are a good move at a time when Louisiana’s coastal resources need protection more than ever. Perhaps one day, the population of redfish will rebound enough that the limits can be raised again. For now, however, the lower limits must be heeded.
It would be a shame if future generations of Louisianans weren’t able to enjoy the fight of a redfish on the hook or the taste of one on the plate.
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