July 10, 2025 — A study of bycatch in the Louisiana menhaden purse seine fishery found that overall non-target fish species comprised 3.59 percent by weight – below the state’s restriction for no more than 5 percent, according to a July 8 report to the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission.
Capture of red drum as menhaden bycatch was calculated to account for 3.4 percent of red drum mortality in the state. Menhaden industry advocates welcomed the findings at the commission’s July meeting, saying the detailed data showed 30,142 redfish were taken by the fishery during 2024, “while recreational fishing is responsible for 96.6 percent by number of fish.”
“The study reaffirms what decades of science have consistently shown: Louisiana’s Gulf menhaden fishery is sustainable, selective, and not a threat to red drum populations,” the Menhaden Fisheries Coalition said in a statement after the report’s release.
The study was funded with a $1 million appropriation from the Louisiana state Legislature, and administered by the Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission. Conducted by researchers with LGL Ecological Research Associates Inc. on board menhaden vessels for seven months during the 2024 fishing season, the study “represents the most detailed assessment of bycatch in the history of the Gulf menhaden fishery,” according to the menhaden coalition.