Louisiana’s strongest saltwater resources organization has led the way in legislative fights to protect the incomparable coastal fisheries of the Bayou State — not the least of which was getting gill nets outlawed in 1995.

But protecting speckled trout and redfish from indiscriminate nets doesn’t amount to much of a victory if the marshes where the fish grow vanish.

So the Coastal Conservation Association-Louisiana has made wetlands subsidence and erosion one of its priorities in recent years, according to CCA Executive Director Jeff Angers.

“CCA-LA has been focused on our fish resources to preserve them not only for this generation but for future generations,” he said. “If we lose our coast, there will be nothing to preserve.”

Angers said CCA-LA has been working behind the scenes in the political battle to make coastal erosion a prominent issue among state and national public officials.

This is where the organization and its 30,000 members can have their biggest impact, rather than in “brick-and-mortar” projects like island restoration or reef construction.

To that end, Angers has encouraged CCA-LA’s members to get specific information from candidates about their plans to solve coastal erosion before voting for them.

“This needs to be the No. 1 priority for everyone in the state,” he said. “Our next governor and state and federal elected officials need to say what they’re going to do for the coast. If they don’t stand up for the state, nobody will.”

Angers said CCA-LA is very involved in the Governor’s Committee on the Future of Coastal Louisiana through one of its past presidents, Berwick Duval.

That committee is headed by Whitney Bank President King Milling, who has grown to be an expert on the coast and one of its strongest advocates.

Angers, who heard Milling speak recently, said one of the things that really caught his attention was Milling stressing the fact that most insurance companies have already abandoned sections of Louisiana, and others are following.

“We are facing catastrophic insurability problems,” Angers said. “It’s getting to the point where no insurance company will insure anybody south of I-10, because they’re stupid if they do.”