In 2024, fishing stakeholders across the Gulf Coast agreed to a half-mile buffer for commercial menhaden operations to protect habitat and reduce lethal bycatch of such species as red drum, tarpon, flounder and speckled trout. However, the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission is considering action to reduce the half-mile shoreline buffer for the Gulf menhaden fishery down to a quarter-mile in most areas.
The American Sportfishing Association says these near-shore waters are the “lifeblood of the sportfishing industry in the Gulf,” providing fishing opportunities for hundreds of thousands of anglers and generating $3.1 billion to Louisiana’s economy. ASA strongly supports the existing buffer zone and urges the commission to maintain its sensible, conservation-minded guidelines that protect vital species and the forage fish they depend on.
The following is ASA’s 2024 letter to the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission in support of the buffer.
The Louisiana-based, national and international businesses signing this letter urge the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission to finalize the Notice of Intent (NOI) passed by the Commission on October 5, 2023, to modify rules for the menhaden fishery to help conserve and protect the fisheries and vital coastal habitat from the effects of industrial menhaden (pogie) harvest along Louisiana’s coast.
Our companies are partners with the recreational fishing community in Louisiana and throughout the Gulf of Mexico. We take pride in helping enable angling opportunities in Louisiana by supplying fishing tackle and boats, supporting fisheries habitat restoration and conservation, and providing jobs for Louisiana’s recreational fishing culture and economy.
Recreational fishing in Louisiana has a $2.5 billion annual economic output and supports nearly 18,000 jobs. Louisiana has earned the title Sportsman’s Paradise and supports unique, world-renowned opportunities to fish for iconic species such as redfish, yellowfin tuna, speckled trout, tarpon, cobia, red snapper and many others.
We believe these opportunities are diminished by the current management of industrial menhaden fishing in Louisiana waters and would be improved by implementing the regulations proposed in the NOI, which would extend the coastal buffer zone out to 1 mile off the coastline (3 miles off the Holly and Rutherford beach area and Grand Isle) and strengthen reporting requirements for net spills.
Anglers, charter captains and guides, conservation organizations, coastal business owners and residents, and many scientists have expressed concerns about the shoreline and fisheries habitat damage caused by large, industrial menhaden boats operating in shallow waters. Unfortunately, recent incidents provide ample evidence of menhaden vessels disturbing water bottoms, impairing water quality and leaving redfish, jacks, sharks and other sport fish, as well as thousands of menhaden and other forage fish, dead along beaches and coastal bays.
We urge the Commission to take sensible, conservation-minded steps toward protecting Louisiana’s fisheries and coastal habitat by finalizing the proposed amendments to menhaden rules as advertised in the NOI. We further encourage the Commission to continue to work with anglers, conservation organizations and fisheries managers to develop ecologically based management for menhaden that considers the needs of sport fish, birds and marine mammals.
Click here to urge the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission to oppose changes to the existing buffer.
