SPORT FISH RESTORATION

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The Federal Aid in Sport Fish Restoration Act, commonly referred to as the Dingell-Johnson act, passed on August 9, 1950, was modeled after the Pittman-Robertson Act to create a parallel program for management, conservation, and restoration of fishery resources.

The Sport Fish Restoration program is funded by revenues collected from the manufacturers of fishing rods, reels, creels, lures, flies and artificial baits, who pay an excise tax on these items to the U.S. Treasury.

An amendment in 1984 (Wallop-Breaux Amendment) added new provisions to the Act by extending the excise tax to previously untaxed items of sport fishing equipment.

Appropriate State agencies are the only entities eligible to receive grant funds. Each State's share is based 60 percent on its licensed anglers (fishermen) and 40 percent on its land and water area. No State may receives more than 5 percent or less than 1 percent of each year's total apportionment.

The program is a cost-reimbursement program, where the state covers the full amount of an approved project then applies for reimbursement through Federal Aid for up to 75 percent of the project expenses. The state must provide at least 25 percent of the project costs from a non-federal source.

During 2005, Louisiana used the marine share of its Sport Fish Restoration Funds in support of the following projects:

1. Marine Boating Access - Continued development of marine boating access for recreational anglers. It is an objective of the Department to strengthen it's ability to meet effectively the consumptive and non-consumptive needs of the public for marine fish resources.
   
2. Stock Assessment of Louisiana's Important Marine Finfishes - High quality data for the stock assessment for various species are essential for making management decisions. This project will determine the spawning ratio of the major recreational saltwater finfish in order to comply with legislative mandates that regulatory action be taken when the Spawning Potential Ratio (SPR) falls below 30%. The goal is to ensure that the stocks of these finfish are not overfished. The spawning potential ratio will be determined using age, growth and fecundity. The LSUCFI will assist with the analysis of samples. Marine Fisheries sampling crews obtain otoliths from important marine fish. Additional work is added as needed to address age and growth and reproductive biology of selected finfishes to support stock assessment efforts.
   
3. Louisiana Marine Sport Fish Investigation, Laboratory Acquistition/Development, Southeast Louisiana - This grant will be used to construct a new marine fisheries laboratory facility on a 7.8 acre tract in Grand Isle, La.
   
4. Evaluating Sport Fish Use of Created Wetlands in the Atchafalaya Delta Project (Contracted to LSUCFI) - The Atchafalaya Delta is losing coastal wetlands. The Coastal Wetlands Planning, Protection and Restoration Act provided funding to restore wetlands in the Delta. Dredge spoil from the River will be used to create new wetland habitat. This project will examine the suitability of this habitat for sport fish production. These data will be used in future planning efforts to optimize the creation of habitat for sport fish.
   
5. Continuation of Identifying Essential Fish Habitats in Barataria Bay Project (Joint project with LSUCFI). This project will describe Essential fish habitat (EFH) using sidescan sonar, split beam hydroacoustics and stable isotope techniques. Identify essential fish habitat in Barataria Bay and quantify their value to important sport fish species. These techniques will yield data that can be used to address the protection and conservation of habitats important to marine, esturine and anadromous finfish. This is a partnership project between Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries and Louisiana State University to develop a monitoring program, establish sampling protocols and conduct field sampling. They will identify habitat use by juveniles by sampling tissue and examining differences in isotopic composition. These data will be integrated together to provide marine fisheries managers with habitat use by various fish species.
   
6. An Analysis of Spotted Seatrout (Cynoscion nebulosus) Feeding Habits within Louisiana Bay Systems - (Joint project with the University of New Orleans) This project will determine whether food web assemblages and trophic positions of sea trout differ among three distinct habitats.
   
7. Marine Sport Fish Tagging Study - (Joint project with LSUCFI) This three year project will develop an alternative estimate of red drum escapement through a tagging study utilizing a diverse partnership. Angler education is an important component of this project. LSU is a funding and research cooperator.
   
8. Sport Fish Utilization of Artificial Reefs vs. Open Water Habitats - (Joint project with LSUCFI) The purpose of this research is to gain understanding of differential habitat utilization and energetics of natural vs manmade oyster reefs for selected fish species. The project will evaluate and document the value of limestone based inshore artificial oyster reefs as essential fish habitat for important marine sport fish species, associated forage species and benthic invertebrate colonizing species.
   
9. Fisheries and Habitat Assessment of Bayou St. John, Restoring an Historic Urban Sport Fishery - (Joint project with UNO and New Orleans City Park) Bayou St. John and the City Park Lagoons are located near the downtown area of New Orleans, La. This grant will assess and restore habitat, determine the quantity and quality of sport fish populations, and quantify fishing pressure. Modifications in the water supply system will allow estuarine organism inflow into the entire system. Public use should increase as a result of improved fishing.