The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) has released an updated survey to gather public input on spotted seatrout management options.
The Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission directed the LDWF to conduct another survey on spotted seatrout management options prior to its October 2021 meeting, according to an LDWF release. This survey is an additional effort to collect public input on management options; LDWF also conducted an email survey sent to more than 10,000 randomly-selected saltwater anglers prior to this survey being made available online.
LDWF says the public's opinion is a critical step in the fishery management process. Because LDWF has determined several management options that will allow the spotted seatrout stock to recover, they will compile the information received from all public input forums and present a summary of angler preferences to the Wildlife and Fisheries Commission for its consideration.
The 2019 assessment of spotted seatrout in Louisiana revealed that the stock is overfished—i.e. the size of the spawning population is below the minimum level established for the stock. When a stock is overfished, LDWF must take action to rebuild the population to (or above) the target level. They are considering several options for management changes to reduce harvest levels and allow the stock to recover.
Follow the link to review the information at https://www.wlf.louisiana.gov/page/spotted-seatrout to learn more about the status of spotted seatrout and these potential management changes.
Take the survey:
Spotted Seatrout Management Options Survey
Your participation in this survey is confidential. If you have any questions or comments regarding the survey, please direct them to Jason Adriance at 504-284-2032 or jadriance@wlf.la.gov.
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