February 10, 2016 — A bill in the state Senate Ports and Marine Resources Committee would greatly increase the number of red drum a commercial fishing boat could have on board.

That, a conservation group says, is unacceptable.

“All of this has been done without any public scrutiny,” said F.J. Eicke of the Coastal Conservation Association. He said the conservationists were not included in any discussions about the bill.

Sen. Brice Wiggins of Pascagoula said he was asked by Omega Protein, which fishes for menhaden in Mississippi waters, to file the bill.

“They are looking out for their captains,” Wiggins said. “The way the law is now, there is zero tolerance. This allows law enforcement some leeway. As in any kind of law, there should be flexibility.”

Wiggins said the boat captains are responsible for the fines and have a violation that stays on their record that could hurt them during jobs searches.

The bill would increase from zero to 45 the number of red drum, also known as red fish, that can be kept by boats that fish with purse seines. Eicke said the red fish population is getting healthier but “we’re not where we need to be.

“And now they want to allow them to take 45 fish every trip.”

That’s not the only part of the bill the CCA doesn’t like.

A couple of times, “shall” would be changed to “may,” which Eicke said would enable law enforcement to let violators off with lesser penalties. Under both the current and proposed law, fines are $100 per red drum. But the penalty also would cost the violator the nets used to catch the fish. The change adds leeway to that penalty, though, by changing “shall” to “may.”