Louisiana’s largest conservation organization and a local legislator want to stop the harvest of bull reds longer than 27 inches.

The Coastal Conservation Association of Louisiana says the redfish population is showing significant signs of decline for the past decade or so. CCA-Louisiana cites Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries studies pointing out a drop in the spawning potential ratio since 2005.

“We have a problem with redfish, and it’s time to take action. The first step should be to stop killing and harvesting bull reds,” CCA-Louisiana said in a prepared statement released May 24.

Currently, it’s legal to harvest one redfish more than 27 inches long per angler in the daily creel limit. The group wants to change the regulation to make it illegal to take any redfish more than 27 inches long.

Sen. Bret Allain, R-Franklin, and 19 co-authors agree with the conservation organization. Allain filed Senate Concurrent Resolution 46, which directs the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission to make the harvest redfish longer than 27 inches illegal while adding penalties and fines for violations. The resolution passed the Senate unanimously early last week and is being considered in the House.

CCA-Louisiana also said many factors have contributed to the decline of redfish and all of them should be addressed. The press release listed menhaden harvest and by-catch along the state’s Gulf Coast, marine habitat degradation and commercial netting as other reasons.

The conservation group urges fishermen to voluntarily catch and release all redfish more than 27 inches while the legislation is making its way through the Senate and House.

If SCR46 passes, the LWFC and LDWF will have the final task of establishing the ban on harvesting bull reds longer than 27 inches, according to CCA-Louisiana. They probably will consider other management options, too, such as creel and minimum size limits.

LDWF released an online and email survey in late February to gather public opinion on redfish management. State biologists reported their recent assessment of redfish along Louisiana shows the spawning stock still above limits but too few fish are surviving to join the offshore spawning population, a development that requires management changes, according to the LDWF.

The juvenile portion of the redfish stock is measured through an “escapement” rate (the percentage of redfish that pass through the recreational fishery from inshore waters as juveniles and make it into the spawning stock offshore.

LDWF biologists cite the established escapement rate limit for management is 30 percent. Louisiana’s current escapement rate is 20 percent, they said, indicating too few redfish are surviving to go offshore to spawn.

DON SHOOPMAN is outdoors editor of The Daily Iberian.