A conservation organization that represents sportsmen is disappointed Governor Landry vetoed legislation that would have designated Atlantic tarpon as a Louisiana saltwater gamefish. Rick Owens with the Louisiana Wildlife Federation says the purpose of the legislation is to preserve a piece of Louisiana’s recreational identity before it fades further.
“Everybody understand: We don’t have the tarpon in Louisiana that we had decades ago,” Owens said.
Owens says Louisiana waters once supported numerous tarpon clubs, tournaments and seasonal fisheries that attracted anglers from across the Gulf Coast.
In his veto message, Governor Landry said there is no real harvest pressure on tarpon and nothing in science suggests the state needs to put limits or restrictions to protect it, when it is primarily a catch-and-release fish.
But Owens says the LDWF lists the “silver king” as vulnerable and at a moderate risk of going extinct.
“The governor was not wrong when he mentioned that this is primarily a catch-and-release fish; not just in Louisiana, but in all other states. That’s 100% true. But if there’s no fish to catch, there’s no fish to release,” Owens noted.
Landry says House Bill 688 is a solution in search of a problem. Owens says the legislation vetoed would have placed tarpon within the same general management framework Louisiana already uses for other recreational species, including red drum, speckled trout, and black bass.
“They have size limit and bag limit restrictions on them as well, even though they are catch-and-release fish and there’s no harvest pressure on these fish. We recognize that need for those fish; we’re just asking for the same protections for the tarpon,” Owens explained.
The House and Senate approved the legislation unanimously; and since it did not become law, Louisiana is the only state that does not formally recognize tarpon as a recreational gamefish.