Inviting the Devil to Dinner: Louisiana Hatchery Dystopia

There are several videos doing the rounds on social media lately about stocking redfish into Louisiana waters.  Redfish are one of Louisiana’s most important game fish. They support a massive recreational fishery,fundamental to the lives of local sportsmen and the State economy. The 2022 Louisiana red drum stock assessment painted a clear picture that the fishery is declining, which matched on-the-water observations from countless guides and anglers in recent years. While the LDWF science supported a substantial reduction in harvest, the political process once again muddied the waters for conservation progress. State-based “conservation” groups pleaded that “one less fish per person was simply too much conservation”. They blamed the menhaden boats for red drum’s problems, often parlayed into arguments about the lack of healthy habitat to support more redfish. Now two years later, these same non profit voices are actively collaborating with the menhaden industry and some of the Gulf’s greatest polluters and violators to supplement the stock with tank-grown, genetically-insufficient hatchery fish. You might be asking: why grow fish if things are so good we don’t need a harvest reduction? The answer is simple: the almighty dollar. Let’s take a peak behind the curtain…

To set the stage, the 2022 LA Red Drum Stock Assessment uncovered very bad news.  The long term mean recruitment estimate was 3.80 million fish. The current estimate is 1.51 million. That means there is an estimated 2.3 million fewer age-1 red drum than the current fishery’s historic abundance. The numbers of redfish over 10 years old was at an all time low.  If that doesn’t make you compelled to advocate for change, track this:

When this assessment sparked management action, our Association advocated for a drop from 5 fish to 3 fish in the creel limit, while also demanding no legal take on bull (overslot) reds. At the last second in the contentious management process, other local organizations pulled strings with a back door deal to keep the creel limit at 4 fish in exchange for a friendly agreement with the menhaden industry regarding a buffer zone to reduce conflict. A mere single season later, that buffer zone was repealed. This is why our association has a lovely policy called “don’t negotiate with the industrial commercial fleets that pillage billions of fish from our oceans with no accountability”. The name needs some work, but a rule is a rule.

How many slot fish a year did this decision cost Louisiana? The numbers listed in LDWF’s trip frequency tables in the the assessment are that approximately 100,000-120,000 more fish per year are harvested thanks to the 4 fish creel limit. A two-inch redfish is not a slot fish. Slot harvest in Louisiana is mostly 18–27 inch juveniles, about 1.5 to 4 years old. Almost all of the redfish harvested annually are in that age class. This raises a critical question: how many drum survive from their 2-inch tank release to become an 18-inch fish iced down in a cooler?

To replace the additional harvested slot fish with a four fish limit instead of three fish limit:

It looks like the hatchery is going to need some serious funding to reach a goal of approximately 130 to 245 million fish per year, just to break even. Does this still sound like a winning gameplay to you?

Natural mortality on small red drum is ugly. Early post-settlement wild fish have been measured losing on the order of 12 percent per day at 10–20 mm. Two-inch fish are past the worst of that, but the first year in the marsh is still dominated by predation, winter kills, and habitat issues. Adult M (mortality) in the LDWF assessment is only 0.116. Juvenile M is several times that and declines with size. Texas has stocked 15–30 million fingerlings a year for decades and hatchery fish still show up as a minority of samples (often a few percent) with recoveries concentrated at age 0–1. 

There is a stock recruitment relationship with redfish spawning. This means the size and reproductive capacity of the spawning stock matters to the production of future generations. Managers need to understand that with this dynamic, protecting spawning class fish is critical and that stocking fish a minuscule probability of joining the spawning stock does nothing for the fishery’s issues. Some will try to cite that “South Carolina research has shown that 36% of age one redfish are hatchery raised”. That may be true, if the sampling was done in Charleston Harbor, where they throw all the little zombie fish. Will those same voices also tell you that South Carolina just went from a 2 fish limit per person to a 2 fish limit per boat because the stock is in such terrible shape? Shocker, they will leave that part out. You know what else they leave out? That age-1 fish are still going to get massacred. It takes a lot for a redfish to get to 18 inches. At what point do you stop trying to “grow a new forest”, and simply cut down less trees?

Texas and South Carolina are two examples of other states we have seen this script play out. When redfish numbers decline, stocking hatchery fish is sold as the “one stop shop” easy solution. Let’s just raise thousands of juveniles, release them into marshes, and let nature take its course. However, thousands of 2” juvenile redfish don’t support a fishery, nor do they change the trajectory for that fisheries’ management isn’t about how many fish get released. Saltwater fisheries rely on more than juvenile abundance. They need those young to survive, mature, support angling effort and reproduce to create the next generation. 

Let’s be extremely clear: hatchery red drum do not accomplish any of these goals at scale. There is no evidence that stocking can produce a population-level benefit to solve Louisiana’s underlying mortality & escapement problems.

This scorching assessment of Louisiana’s redfish hatchery potential isn’t opinion. It’s an industry-wide objective reality. The State’s own fisheries managers have gone on record stating that stocking won’t solve the fundamental problems facing Louisiana redfish:

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“With the recent stock assessment showing that our red drum population has [multi-million fish] deficit compared to the long term recruitment average, stocking efforts will not solve the issues facing red drum in Louisiana,” said LDWF Assistant Secretary for Fisheries Patrick Banks. “Stocking of hatchery-reared fish is rarely the solution to a fish population problem in nature.”

Hatcheries for population supplementation are nothing more than a “last ditch effort” when managers wave the white flag and quit on a fishery. Hatcheries are a public relations ultimate fantasy. They’re visually inspiring, scientifically intriguing and their operations generate media opportunities galore: “Look at all those little fish getting dumped in the river… Swim buddy, swim!” Unfortunately, the stark reality of their efficacy doesn’t align with their punchy headlines for fundraising campaigns. Instead of tracking tank hatchlings around the marsh, why don’t we take a minute to track the almighty dollar…

Raising and stocking saltwater fish costs a lot of money and conservation dollars are already quite difficult to come by. Why would any conservation group lead the charge for such a bad investment? Because a dollar handed to the hatchery truck puts quite a few more in your back pocket. There are a few sources to tap for hatchery dollars, such as well-intentioned conservation supporters who want to see abundant oceans but can’t see the bigger picture. If they don’t have a source for real science or economics, it’s hard to blame them. They have been lied to; they think they’re a donation away from an abundant fishery once “the little fish that could” grow up. 

The most concerning funding source is industry. Let’s be clear: all the following are publicly listed redfish stocking sponsors on the RFRI Marine Sport Fishing Stocking page:

CCA Louisiana & Louisiana Charter Boat Association: two coalitions who actively advocated for a four fish creel limit just a few years ago. When a recreational fishing reduction was on the table, both organizations and their supporters vehemently defended the current state of the fishery. So, why would there be any need for these organizations to spend their member’s dollars on hatchery fish? Hmm…

Air Products: An industrial gasses company that was pursuing a controversial $4.5 billion hydrogen/carbon-capture project that proposed injecting up to roughly 5 million tons of CO₂ per year beneath Lake Maurepas. The state had entered an operating agreement with Air Products allowing CO₂ storage beneath state/LDWF property. The project generated substantial local opposition over potential impacts to Lake Maurepas and its fisheries. Against that backdrop, Air Products established a Lake Maurepas Community Fund, which the company described as a planned $1 million-per-year commitment to communities around the lake for the anticipated life of the project. Air Products’ own materials explicitly put its fisheries contributions under the heading “Giving Back to the Community.” And the fisheries spending is substantial. Air Products first gave $250,000 to the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Foundation for fish stocking in Lake Maurepas. Then in March 2025 it gave $50,000 to RFRI specifically to stock redfish in Lake Maurepas and Lake Pontchartrain. Public nonprofit records describe another $50,000 Air Products Foundation grant to RFRI as support to “expand redfish fisheries stocking program.” In summary, an industrial gas company needed to throw money around to cover their ___, but instead of those dollars actually going to the community their development would so significantly impact, they landed in the hatchery bank account. Why would these dollars end up with the hatchery while Louisiana is so desperately in need of restoration funds? It may have to do with who runs the hatchery, but we’ll dig into that later…

West Bank Fishing: This is the fun one. Many of our advocates may recognize the West Bank brand name, but not for stylish rain gear (like AFTCO, another active supporter of the hatchery). No, West Bank is more appropriately known as a shining member of “the pogy fleet” – one of the most destructive industrial fishing fleets to ever grace Gulf waters. It’s worth noting that the West Bank menhaden boats are smaller and can fish shallower than the Omega boats, so they were the primary drivers behind recently repealing the buffer zones that aimed to protect recreational fishermen and shallow water ecosystems. On October 4, 2023, LDWF cited West Bank Fishing for “excessive killing of fish” following a menhaden-release incident that sparked controversy in the local community. Fast forward to 2026 and the same organizations that just went to war with the pogy boats are now taking their money. How funny is that? The historical juxtaposition is particularly interesting because CCA Louisiana was publicly hammering the industry just a few short years ago. Campaigns included slogans like “enough is enough”, citing the pogy fleet as one of Louisiana redfish’s biggest problems. It only took a year for the pogy fleet to remember they don’t actually care about compromise, successfully lobbying for the removal of the (already insufficient) ½ mile buffer zone. The CCA LA cohort was heartbroken and shocked, publicly stating; “we had a deal, agreed in good faith – and we held up our end of the bargain!”. This might be a good time to cite our earlier rule about making deals. So, how did an industry CCA portrayed as a major part of the problem soon become a collaborative financial partner in their shared solution for the fishery? Something smells fishy, and this time, it’s not the trail of destruction left behind one of those pogy boats.

Cameron LNG & Sempra Infrastructure: While not listed on the RFRI sponsor website, recent social media posts from CCA LA’s outreach team have publicly documented that, “the Thad Cochran Marine Aquaculture Center hatchery [‘s production of] thousands of juvenile redfish being raised for release right here in Louisiana (….) is funded by Cameron LNG and Sempra Infrastructure with CCA Louisiana and RFRI helping facilitate the project through USM.” While the name is now attached to an effort being sold as an investment in Louisiana’s coastal resources, the company’s Hackberry LNG facility has compiled quite the environmental record. According to the Environmental Integrity Project, Cameron LNG was classified as a high-priority Clean Air Act violator in 11 of 12 quarters between October 2022 and July 2025. From 2019 through May 2025, the facility reported 89 emission events releasing roughly 475 tons of air pollution. Company incident reports included more than 1,800 pounds of benzene through April 2024 alone—including a single nine-day event that released 431 pounds of benzene, more than three times the facility’s annual permitted amount for one turbine. Meanwhile, the facility recorded 27 wastewater effluent violations between July 2020 and June 2025. Yet as of July 2025, EIP reported $0 in finalized Clean Air Act penalties against Cameron LNG for the violations included in its analysis. This is but another example of an industrial company “greenwashing” their dirty track record and pretending to protect the environments they’re actively destroying. This company is polluting the air Louisiana residents breathe and paying them back by funding a hatchery operation in another state. Make that make sense.

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Where do we go from here?

We can’t allow the taxpayers of Louisiana to pay for this ill conceived nonsense. In the 2024 Regular Session, Rep. Joseph Orgeron introduced HB 847, which passed overwhelmingly and was signed into law as Act 735. It became effective August 1, 2024. The law created a new account inside Louisiana’s Conservation Fund called the Marine Finfish Stock Enhancement Fund. Despite the broad-sounding name, the statute specifically dedicates the money to red drum. It authorizes spending for the purchase, transportation, tagging, release and monitoring of red drum; genetic testing; hatchery-based production and stocking efforts and academic research. It can receive state appropriations as well as public/private grants, gifts and donations. Money left over at the end of a fiscal year stays in the fund rather than reverting away.

We’ve heard through the grape vine that certain individuals plan to propose a bill in an upcoming session that would allocate state surplus dollars to the stock enhancement fund. HB 847 built the “bank account”, now they’re trying to find ways to funnel money to it. We can’t overstate how egregious this decision would be for the State. The 2025 American Society of Civil Engineers Louisiana Infrastructure Report Card gave the state an overall C−. Roads received a D, drinking water a D, and bridges, wastewater and ports each received a D+. About 50% of Louisiana roads are in poor or fair condition, more than 1,500 bridges are in poor condition, the road-maintenance backlog is approximately $24 billion, and estimated drinking-water infrastructure needs total $23.2 billion.

How about the needs of the Louisiana youth? The most recent KIDS COUNT results put Louisiana 48th nationally in overall child well-being. According to Agenda For Children, 1 in 4 Louisiana children lives in poverty. If there are any extra dollars laying around in the Louisiana state budget, we can think of some better landing spots than the hatchery bank account.

If the operation really works, then it should fund itself. Conservation dollars for reparations should go directly to LDWF for desperately needed funds to enhance science and habitat goals.  We encourage our readers to do their own research on if hatcheries are really successful in saltwater. You won’t find a single example of it. Our community is the last line of defense for our wild, natural resources. Our Association will hold this line until the end of time. Consider this blog a first journal entry in a much larger conversation we look forward to fostering in the coming months. 

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Want to take a deeper dive? Join a 2-hour discussion on the topic via The Guide Post Podcast — available on all major podcast platforms.