The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF), Louisiana State University and Louisiana Sea Grant have released a survey to gather public input on spotted seatrout management options. This survey is an additional effort to collect public input on these options; they also conducted eight statewide public meetings earlier this year, then an email survey sent to more than 10,000 randomly-selected saltwater anglers.
Your opinion is a critical step in the fishery management process. Because they have 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 Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission for their consideration.
The latest 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, action must be taken to rebuild the population back to (or above) the target level. LDWF is currently considering several options for management changes to reduce harvest levels and allow the stock to recover.
You can review the information at https://www.wlf.louisiana.gov/page/spotted-seatrout to learn more about the current status of spotted seatrout and these potential management changes.
Go to the above website and take the survey: Spotted Seatrout Management Options Survey located on the right hand side.
Your participation in this survey is completely confidential.