Today, May 12, four important sportsmen’s bills vital for accountability and privacy in the “Sportsman’s Paradise” are on third and final reading on the Senate floor beginning at 2:30 p.m.
These bills have already overwhelmingly passed the House, and passing the Senate is the final step for these bills to get to the Governor’s desk. Use the Take Action button to email your state Senator and urge them to vote “Yes” to these critical bills.
Overview of the Four Pro-Sportsmen Bills
HB 757 (Real Consequences): Implements massive fines, up to $250k, for illegal fishing, stopping violations from being just a “cost of doing business.”
HB 872 (Digital Eyes): Requires GPS tracking (AIS) on every commercial boat so they can’t sneak into protected shallow-water “buffer zones” without getting caught.
HB 886 (Transparency): Forces the industry to stop hiding its harvest data from the public and our researchers.
HB 1177 (Privacy Shield): Protects your sensitive information, including name, address, and phone number, collected for hunting and fishing licenses from being accessed through public records requests.
You can watch the Senate floor debate in real-time through the Louisiana Senate Chamber Live Stream.
The Threat to Louisiana’s Menhaden and Coastal Fisheries
As previously reported, HB 757, HB 872, and HB 886 are not just about policy, it’s about the future of our time on the water. Menhaden are the “most important fish in the sea” because they are the foundation of our entire recreational fishery. When industrial fleets strip-mine these baitfish from our nearshore shallows, they aren’t just taking pogy; they are destroying the forage base that keeps redfish, speckled trout, and tarpon in our marshes.
Furthermore, every time an industrial net is set in shallow water, our prized game fish are caught as bycatch. We cannot claim to be “Sportsman’s Paradise” while allowing an industrial extraction industry to jeopardize the $3.7 billion recreational fishing economy that sustains our local guides, marinas, and coastal communities.
Protecting Hunter and Angler Privacy Rights
Equally important is protecting you, the individual sportsman. HB 1177 ensures that your personal information doesn’t become a public commodity. Law-abiding hunters and anglers should not have their home addresses or contact details exposed to the highest bidder or anti-hunting groups just because they purchased a license. Your data belongs to you, not the public record.
Support the Future of Louisiana Sportsmen
Stand with us to protect Louisiana’s sportsmen and its coast. Please take 30 seconds to forward this email to your family and hunting and fishing buddies. Urge them to join you in the fight to protect our Sportsman’s Paradise. A few minutes of their time today ensures we all have fish to catch tomorrow. Let’s ensure the next generation of Louisiana sportsmen has a future to enjoy.
The Sportsmen’s Alliance guarantees hunting, fishing, and trapping for the American sportsman now and forever. We’re there when sportsmen need us most. We are the only organization specifically created to protect the individual hunter, angler, and trapper – no matter the threat. We will never compromise when it comes to defending our way of life in the courts, in the legislatures, in the public square, and at the ballot box. We make this promise to the American sportsman: we will never give up and never give in while proudly securing our future against those seeking to destroy our values, beliefs, and traditions. Stay connected to the Sportsmen’s Alliance: Online, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
