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State of Louisiana
Department of Wildlife and Fisheries
Post Office Box 98000
Baton Rouge, LA 70898-9000
(504) 765-2800
August 25, 1998
Mr. Danny Babin
105 Lewald Drive
Houma, La 70360
Dear Mr. Babin:
Reference is made to the correspondence you received fkom Mr. Larry Kelly, with the Toledo Bend Bi-State Alliance, concerning crappie regulations on Toledo Bend Reservoir. His letter further requested that Louisiana adopt the 10 inch minimum length limit on crappie to be uniform with Texas.
As I am sure you recall, about a year ago, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife & Fisheries presented to the Louisiana Wildlife & Fisheries Commission a list of uniform sportsfish regulations for Toledo Bend, that were drafted and proposed as a cooperative endeavor between this Department and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.
As requested by Texas and in the spirit of compromise, Louisiana agreed to include and go with the 10 inch minimum length on crappie in the package of proposed regulations presented to the Commission for consideration. Again as you may recall, the overwhelming majority of responses from individuals commenting on the crappie minimum length limit were negative. Because of strong opposition from the public, a paucity of data regarding length limit effects on crappie in Toledo Bend, an inconsistent results in other studies, the Commission did not enact the 10 inch regulation. The Commission did however, adopt all other regulations presented.
The Department has initiated a study on crappie on Toledo Bend Reservoir with data collection scheduled to begin this fall. The first objective of the project is to determine an adequate crappie sampling method, then determine the limiting factors on crappie in the reservoir.
Danny Babin
August 25, 1998
Page 2
Information obtained from this study will allow us to better evaluate various management options such as water level fluctuations and length restrictions. We are also in the process of finalizing a joint report with Texas on fisheries and aquatic plants on Toledo Bend. This report will be available near the end of September.
Sincerely,
Bennie J. Fontenot, Administrator
Inland Fisheries
BJF:lr
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