As Louisiana’s Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) Commission prepared to revisit coastal buffer rules for the state’s menhaden fishery on November 6, tensions between recreational and commercial fishermen are reaching a breaking point.
According to a WBRZ report, recreational anglers plan to attend the Baton Rouge meeting in force, urging regulators not to roll back the half-mile no-fishing zones established earlier this year.
The LDWF introduced the buffer zones in February 2024 to limit where menhaden boats can deploy their purse seine nets. The rules were designed to reduce bycatch of redfish and speckled trout, which many recreational fishermen say are being caught and killed in alarming numbers. LDWF’s own study found that more than 240,000 speckled trout and 22,000 red drum were killed during the 2024 menhaden season.
“This isn’t about ending the fishery- it’s about protecting the species that fuel our coastal economy,” said Coastal Conservation Association of Louisiana CEO Rad Trascher, according to WBRZ. Menhaden industry spokesman Ben Landry countered that bycatch makes up less than five percent of the total catch and that the industry has invested millions in stronger nets to prevent accidental fish kills.
This debate echoes similar tensions playing out on the East Coast, where the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) recently approved a 20 percent cut to the 2026 Atlantic menhaden quota. As reported by National Fisherman, the decision has divided environmental and industry groups. New England Fishermen’s Stewardship Association COO Dustin Delano called the cut “unnecessary and shortsighted,” arguing that menhaden are not overfished and that deeper reductions could “impose needless harm on working families and a 150-year-old fishery.”
Menhaden are vital to the marine food chain from Maine to Louisiana, and remain caught in a feud over science, sustainability, and the future of fishermen.
