COLUMBIA, s.c. — April 2, 2014 — A Berkeley County legislator says blue catfish in the Lowcountry are being harvested to an excess, and a bill that would establish daily limits will be up for discussion in a Senate panel Wednesday.
Rep. Eddie Southard, R-Moncks Corner, is calling for people to stop taking blue catfish from Lakes Marion and Moultrie by the truckloads. Southard said the fish are being taken to the Upstate, where people pay to fish for the catfish.
"I think they should grow their own fish," Southard said. "But you can't stop them because there's no limit on it right now."
Southard's bill, which will go before the Senate's Fish, Game and Forestry Committee at 10 a.m., would change that.
It would make it illegal for anyone to take more than 10 blue catfish from Lake Marion, Lake Moultrie, the upper reach of the Santee River, and the Congaree and Wateree rivers.