Provides for black bass and crappie bag and size limits. (8/1/26)

Senate Bill 111 enacts a new subsection of Louisiana Revised Statutes 56:325(A) to establish fishing limits for black bass and crappie within a defined geographic area of the Atchafalaya Basin region. The legislation creates two distinct regulatory standards within the specified area: for black bass of the genus Micropterus and their hybrids, anglers may take no more than five fish per day with a minimum size of fourteen inches total length, and for crappie of the genus Pomoxis and their hybrids, anglers may take no more than twenty-five fish per day with a minimum size of eight inches total length. The geographic area subject to these limits is precisely defined by reference to highways and waterways, encompassing territory south of US 190 from the West Atchafalaya Basin Protection Levee to the intersection of LA 1 and US 190 near Port Allen, extending eastward and northward through a series of boundary lines including the levee, US 90, LA 20, and LA 1 toward Thibodaux. The law becomes effective August 1, 2026.

This legislation directly affects recreational fishermen who fish in the Atchafalaya Basin and surrounding tributaries and distributaries. Anglers harvesting black bass in the designated area must comply with the new fourteen-inch minimum size requirement and five-fish daily limit, while those taking crappie face an eight-inch minimum size requirement and a twenty-five-fish daily limit. The regulations apply to all persons, with enforcement falling to Louisiana wildlife officers. The Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, the agency responsible for administering freshwater fishing regulations, will enforce these limits through existing violation and penalty mechanisms contained in Title 56 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes.

The legislation amends Chapter 3 of Title 56 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes, which contains the comprehensive regulatory framework governing freshwater recreational fishing in Louisiana. Section 325 of that chapter already contained daily take, possession, and size limits for various fish species throughout the state. This bill adds a new geographic-specific regulation as subsection thirteen, preserving existing statewide limits while creating a more restrictive subset applicable only to the Atchafalaya Basin area. The addition operates within the constitutional authority granted to the state to manage and conserve fish and wildlife resources, and the legislature's delegation of rulemaking authority to the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries under that statutory framework.