Thread: Need Crappie.com Support.

What's a triple tail and why do they want to limit it?

That's a triple tail, They are a highly migratory fish that suspends horizontally of flotsam and debris on high salt estuaries / lakes and the gulf of mexico.

Some people refer to the as the Sac-a-lait of Salt Water.

They are not a fish that can be targeted, they are highly migratory and stay with debris and clean water. The state has said that it possibly want's to put a limit in place of 5 fish with an 18" minimum size restriction.

If they were crappie that would mean that you could only keep 5 crappie, with a minimum size restriction of lets around 12-14 inches, on a lake like toledo bend...... This would like very quickly result in a huge overpopulation of crappie in the lake which would then quickly become stunted because of competition and lack of predation. (an 18" TT is a whopper, most you catch fall under that)

Based on studies that have been conducted in other area's targeting 18" inch TT's will mean that you are going to be targeting the breeding stock more than anything else. Also there has been 0 evidence presented that the TT stocks are under any threat from hook and line anglers.

So again.. please forward a copy of this email to the appropriate folks. All fisheries decisions in louisiana should be based on sound scientific studies which will ensure strong populations of fish for our sons and daughters as they inherit our fisheries. If we allow fishery decisions to be based on Whim's of the moneyed elite, or allow them to be made based on private interest group pressure without supporting scientific study's we are going to do nothing but hurt our fisheries.

Please if your unsure about this, ask questions and I will do my best to answer why i need all of your support on this issue.

If we allow LDWF to start making out of hand decisions without scientific study behind them, i am sure you can expect some very foolish fishing regulations all over the state....

If your not sure, ask... If at the end of the day you remain unsure i understand, but please don't just sit on the sidelines, We need support to get LDWF to recognize that Anglers (....ie.... US) want and need to see that scientific method goes into setting the laws that govern fishing.

And for those of you saying... What's a tripletail... i never seen one before... i don't care about that....

I would share with you that I myself have never seen one (i don't get a chance to saltwater fish that often) and have never caught one.

But being as someday I would like to see one and catch one... and i want my kids to have that same opportunity I support strong scientific management of the resource.

Louisiana is the only gulf state that has not regulated the Triple Tail
The Triple Tail is a short lived fish and only lives about 6 years(Crappie can live double that)
Tagged Triple Tails in Louisiana were caught 2 1/2 times more often than any other game fish. This establishes that they are more vulnerable to overfishing.
No in depth studies have been conducted by Louisiana but other gulf states have studies that our Biologists have looked at
Boat Captains in Calcasieu and Borgne Lake have been targeting Triple Tail more often in the last few years than they ever have before. This is due to the fish's growing popularity among anglers and several cooking shows detailing the wonderful mildness of the meat.

If there is no regulation then we may wake up one day and realize that we have devastated our population of this awesome fish. Mankind has shown in the past their destructive behavior when it comes to animals and limiting themselves. Most of us are decent anglers and only take what we can eat, but without regulations we know there are those that will exploit an animal till it no longer exists. History is rife with over-hunting to extinction:
Dodo Bird
Passenger Pigeon
Flying Fox
and many others

And we almost wiped out many other species including:
Buffalo
Muskox
American Crocodile, hunted so fiercely that in 1970 only a few hundred were left.

I happen to support and trust our LDWF because I know they are just protecting animals so that our future generations will have something to Hunt and fish. I know many wildlife agents that love to hunt and fish as much as we do and they got into that profession because of their love of the outdoors. I think the 5 per person limit is not too bad. At 18 inches minimum then 5 big ones is more than enough to go home and feed the family a couple of meals. If 5 ain't enough then catch some redfish, trout, or flounder to go with it. If you take your son, daughter or wife fishing then you can keep 10!!

Sent to all of the addresses. Thanks for the letter.

Originally Posted by Team M&M

Louisiana is the only gulf state that has not regulated the Triple Tail
The Triple Tail is a short lived fish and only lives about 6 years(Crappie can live double that)
Tagged Triple Tails in Louisiana were caught 2 1/2 times more often than any other game fish. This establishes that they are more vulnerable to overfishing.
No in depth studies have been conducted by Louisiana but other gulf states have studies that our Biologists have looked at
Boat Captains in Calcasieu and Borgne Lake have been targeting Triple Tail more often in the last few years than they ever have before. This is due to the fish's growing popularity among anglers and several cooking shows detailing the wonderful mildness of the meat.

If there is no regulation then we may wake up one day and realize that we have devastated our population of this awesome fish. Mankind has shown in the past their destructive behavior when it comes to animals and limiting themselves. Most of us are decent anglers and only take what we can eat, but without regulations we know there are those that will exploit an animal till it no longer exists. History is rife with over-hunting to extinction:
Dodo Bird
Passenger Pigeon
Flying Fox
and many others

And we almost wiped out many other species including:
Buffalo
Muskox
American Crocodile, hunted so fiercely that in 1970 only a few hundred were left.

I happen to support and trust our LDWF because I know they are just protecting animals so that our future generations will have something to Hunt and fish. I know many wildlife agents that love to hunt and fish as much as we do and they got into that profession because of their love of the outdoors. I think the 5 per person limit is not too bad. At 18 inches minimum then 5 big ones is more than enough to go home and feed the family a couple of meals. If 5 ain't enough then catch some redfish, trout, or flounder to go with it. If you take your son, daughter or wife fishing then you can keep 10!!

I do understand your sentiment Team M&M, And on the surface you make several valid points about this discussion.

However, Please understand that at no point in time are myself or anyone involved in this letter saying that we do not want sound scientific based management of the Triple Tail Resource.

First, please understand that LDWF has floated this as something that they wish to have discussed, and will be having meetings on the proposed limits to discuss them further. As such i believe we should give them the feedback that before imposing criminal penalties on fishermen, we want there to be scientific study of this fish in Louisiana's waters.

As stated in the letter we feel that it is grossly inappropriate to impose CRIMINAL penalties on someone without any scientific data from our state to support this. Especially when those limits are based on studies in other area's of the gulf of mexico that do not even have a minor percentage of the estuarine habitat of Louisiana.

Additionally when you look at the life cycle of Triple Tail, you can quickly determine that setting a 18" limit will end up being a case where you are almost EXCLUSIVELY then targeting the mature female fish which are the only fish capable of sustaining the population.

Perhaps a slot limit system would be most appropriate... something along the lines of no fish kept between 17-20 inches with only 1 fish kept above 20 inches and a total limit of 5 or 10 fish.

But we have no way of knowing if that is the right course to take because we have no studies to base it on.

I also have some very close friends who are LDWF agents, all of whom are ardent hunters/fishermen. They certainly understand and accept that the correct way to manage fish populations is to use a scientific method to ensure that the stocks are not over-harvested.

They would also say to you that this "knee jerk" reaction which has been proposed without any scientific study in our state, is liable to be just about as effective as if we were to follow any old billy bob's recommendation on how to manage fish.

in other words.... The intent is good.... but the wisdom / science / knowledge is sorely lacking...

The species you listed above were all driven to extinction / near extinction by one common factor.... money... buffalo, passenger pigeon, eastern elk, wild turkey in much of its range, etc etc etc. were all MARKET HUNTED so they could be sold for money. If you want a similar example think of How badly the redfish population was hurt when the "Blackened redfish" craze was going on... Commercial fisherman ramped up production on redfish so quickly that for a few years finding and catching a red was a rarity. Along came some organizations that presented solid SCIENCE to show what needed to be changed, and redfish became a "sport" fish protected from commercial overharvest and they have since then flourished. I say all of the above about commercial interests, because the proposed penalties / regulations are not going to affect them at all... they are squarly aimed at Hook and Line sport fishermen.

I agree with you in one respect. The most important thing to me is that the resource is managed to ensure that we and our future generations have a resource to enjoy. As such i want, expect, and will continue to DEMAND that our state manage our resources based on Science... and not on opinions.... whether they be yours, mine, billybob's.... or anyone else's....