LWF Staff have joined efforts with the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries and will be participating in the 2025 LDWF Black Bass Management Plan (BBMP) Stakeholders Working Group in an effort to assist LDWF with developing an actionable framework that aims to maintain healthy Largemouth and Spotted Bass populations throughout the state, while developing ways to improve angler satisfaction and improve Louisiana’s reputation as a premiere destination for recreational black bass fishing. The goal of the BBMP is to identify, prioritize, and implement targeted strategies to protect, promote, and enhance black bass populations and black bass angling opportunities in Louisiana for the benefit of the public.
The first meeting of the BBMP Stakeholder’s Working Group was recently held at the Booker Fowler Hatchery in Woodworth, La., and was hosted by LDWF Black Bass Coordinator Zane LeBlanc. The working group is comprised of 15 members with a wide variety of stakeholders, including representatives from the professional black bass fishing community, local freshwater guides, bass club representatives, outdoor media personalities, government partners, and wildlife conservation groups. The BBMP Stakeholder Group will convene monthly to ensure a diverse perspective and contribute their expertise to the development of the BBMP.
The development and implementation of the BBMP is the responsibility of the LDWF Inland Fisheries Section with technical assistance and local input from Inland Fisheries Staff Biologists and oversight by the Inland Fisheries Section Administration. One of the primary goals of the Fisheries Staff is to utilize the Stakeholder Working Group and the public to help identify issues and form key areas for improvements. The original plan will span ten years and will serve as a blueprint for Inland Fisheries to achieve measurable improvements in key areas of bass management identified through the planning process.
The goal of the BBMP will be to improve bass management for the benefit of the public. As such, including the public and stakeholder groups in the process has been identified as essential to the development and future success of the plan. One of the primary tools that will be utilized by the LDWF Staff will be the execution of a comprehensive bass angling survey that will be implemented during the Stakeholder Working Group process. After the development of questions identified as important to the BBMP, the survey will be made available for the public beginning November 19, 2025, and will be available for completion through December 1, 2025. The information collected will be a crucial piece of the BBMP framework. Where possible, and achievable, comments will be implemented into the final actionable strategies of the plan. Upon release, LWF will assist with providing information to the process and highlight the opportunity to participate on social media and our website.
The Federation commends LDWF for their continued efforts to maintain transparency in the BBMP planning process and supports efforts to maintain pathways for communications and effectively represent impacted stakeholders.
Questions? Contact Rick Owens, LWF’s Advocacy Manager, at rick@lawildlifefed.org for more information.