Life as we know it for recreational speckled trout fishermen around here and along the Louisiana coast is about to change drastically. How drastically might depend on public input from saltwater fishermen like you.

As excitement builds for a possible fair to good speckled trout season over the next few months in and around Vermilion Bay, the bona fide game-changer looms this week. The daily creel limit and the minimum length limit for speckled trout almost certainly will be revised when the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission meets Thursday in Baton Rouge.

State Department of Wildlife and Fisheries biologists, specifically Louisiana’s Finfish Task Force, have recommended reducing the 25-fish per day creel limit to 15 and an increase in the minimum size limit from 12 inches to 13.5 inches. Those following the speckled trout issue since studies began a few years ago believe LWFC commissioners will decide to adopt those changes.

Louisiana’s speckled trout population has been overfished since 2016, according to results of a stock assessment study released in 2021.

LDWF marine biologist Jason Adriance told commissioners on Sept. 1 the speckled trout “stock is still overfished. We’re still at a point where we feel we need management actions. There has been slightly more (speckled trout) harvested.”

The Coastal Conservation Association-Louisiana supports reducing the daily creel limit to 15 fish but adamantly opposes raising the minimum length limit to 13.5 inches. CCA-Louisiana believes the 12-inch minimum length limit should stay on the books.

The 30,000-plus member marine resource conservation group also wants the state to implement measures other than those targeting recreational anglers in an effort to manage speckled trout.

Why stick with the 12-inch minimum length limit?

“An increase like this (proposed) will put more pressure on the female stock,” David Cresson, CCA-Louisiana CEO, said early Tuesday afternoon.

Cresson pointed out the organization has consulted with its biologists and other biologists. If speckled trout under 13.5 inches are caught and released, science shows a higher percentage of the smaller fish are male.

As a result, many of the new “legal” fish going home in ice chests will be females.

CCA-Louisiana calls the proposed increase in the minimum length limit “drastic and unnecessary.” In addition to reducing the number of female speckled trout, fishing for larger fish would have negative impacts on charter operations, marinas, bait shops, lodges and other businesses that depend on recreational anglers, CCA-Louisiana wrote in a prepared statement released Monday.

Cresson urges recreational anglers to let commissioners know your stance on the issue.

Either attend the meeting at 9:30 a.m. Thursday at LDWF headquarters in Baton Rouge or email your comments to comments@wlf.la.gov.

CCA-Louisiana noted that fisheries managers are quick to propose recreational creel and size limit adjustments but emphasized recreational changes cannot be the only remedy. The organization said there are many other factors that impact speckled trout, such as water conditions, weather and other environmental issues.

The prepared statement said, “However, some are able to be managed, and should absolutely be considered as part of the overall plan … Some of those include:

1) Coastal and regional forage reduction

2) Marine habitat and reef degradation

3) Bycatch

4) Marine fisheries restocking programs

5) Stock evaluation protocols and programs

6) Ecosystem level management

“I think it’s important that everybody recognizes no matter what changes are made they cannot be only recreational. Rarely do recreational changes alone help in the recovery of a fishery,” Cresson said.

Addressing those six points will take time, he said, but the state must take the initiative now. Ignoring other factors or other management options is short-sighted and could result in the continued (and historically ineffective) practice of singling out recreational fishing to solve ecosystem-wide issues.

It’s time to heed the warnings and respond.

DON SHOOPMAN is outdoors editor of The Daily Iberian.