re: This Pogie Hearing Tomorrow... You Baws Need to Come or Email the LDWF!

Commissioner Kenneth “Andy” Brister of Lake Providence admitted he first heard about “pogy boats” at a recent commission meeting.

“Please work it out,” he told the two sides. “Man, to get me involved in this is not the smartest thing to do.”

Who the frick put this dipshit on the Commission? If you are too stupid to get involved and learn about the issue then resign!

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Commissioner Kenneth “Andy” Brister of Lake Providence admitted he first heard about “pogy boats” at a recent commission meeting.

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How the hell can a guy who is in charge of fishery management not know about the largest commercial fishing presence in Louisiana waters? This guy should not be there.

interesting couple of articles I found...de'ja vu'...

Saltwater Sportsman
As was discussed in the previous article on this subject, even small restrictions on this fishery are so threatening to Omega that they send busloads of employees to Virginia Marine Resources Commission (VMRC) hearings to pack the room with folks who speak out against any restriction.

Saltwater Sportsman

A similar scenario is happening in the Gulf of Mexico concerning the menhaden fishery there and efforts to rebuild speckled trout and redfish. In fact, it’s almost déjà vu all over again. There is a current effort to reconstruct the speckled trout population by increasing size limits and lowering bag limits. Recreational organizations are not supporting the measures that are being proposed by Gulf fisheries managers. The same management issues are also being addressed for red drum or “redfish” primarily in Louisiana. The measures being proposed by fisheries managers are being challenged by a variety of recreational interests. Their efforts against size limit changes and bag limit decreases are being seen by some as short sighted.

At the same time, these recreational organizations are continuing to press for more restrictions on the menhaden fishery in the Gulf. Critics say that these recreational organizations should accept the science advice on speckled trout and redfish and leave the menhaden fishery alone. They say the menhaden fishery is being managed sustainably and it is not overfished.

I do not see nearly the number of schools of pogies I used to see around Grand Isle and Fourchon. As I watch the spotter planes and giant purse seines circling right outside the surf.

And again, it’s not just a bycatch issue, it’s also them removing the bottom of the food chain. It’s no coincidence that when other states chased them away, leaving them to focus all their efforts on Louisiana, encounters with sharks and dolphins taking our fish increased exponentially.

All this primarily to feed the worlds cats.

Many of the large predator fish in the central LA coast have gone, because the pogies aren't here in numbers great enough to maintain the population. As recently as the 80s there used to be large roaming schools of Tarpon in Tiger Shoals and Eugene Island area off the mouth of the Atchafalaya. They were all feeding on menhaden, which are not as present as they used to be. Also we know that large trout and redfish eat lots of menhaden. If you want to increase the breeding population of trout, it would make sense to have as many available menhaden as possible. The fact that the recreational limits of fish have been reduced but nothing is done to the commercial limits of menhaden fishing, is really disgusting. I spend a lot of time in tiger shoals and I can tell you it is loaded with pogey boats all year long.

This crooked arse fricked up state is ridiculous. Get the frickin boats out of state waters.

I wish you would have recorded that. it's ridiculous. this pogie business is worse than introducing a nonnative species into the environment.

Even Mississippi has a one mile buffer and the feds have one around the barrier islands and they enforce theirs

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I bet the pogie men kill a lot of tarpon


They definitely do. I've personally seen them in Breton Sound throw three dead Tarpon overboard

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back when gill nets were still legal we saw 5 very large tarpon in a gill net long since dead near alligator point in lake borgne /chef pass... circa 1984......