July 6, 2016 — Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Secretary Charlie Melancon’s opposition to a congressional bill to hand over red snapper management to the Gulf states hinged on the bill’s lack of federal funding and what he estimated could be a $10 million annual price tag.
But that flew in the face of previous statements by his predecessor’s administration, which said in a congressional hearing that the agency had plenty of money for state management thanks to a saltwater fishing license increase instituted to fund the data-collection program known as LA Creel.
So who’s correct?
“Unfortunately, I would tend to say my current boss is more than likely closer to the truth,” LDWF Assistant Secretary of the Office of Fisheries Patrick Banks told LouisianaSportsman.com.
The reason is pretty simple, Banks said: LA Creel collects only one part of the data needed to perform full stock assessments necessary to effectively manage fisheries.
“LA Creel collects fisheries-dependent data,” the biologist said.
That includes information on recreational and charter catches, he said.
“What fish are caught, what types of fish are caught — stuff like that,” Banks explained.
However, LA Creel doesn’t capture any commercial landings, fisheries-independent data (think scientific sampling) or enforcement between state waters and the boundary of federal waters at 200 nautical miles.
And there probably just isn’t enough money in the program to cover those non-recreational aspects of management, he said.