House panel advances bill barring slot limits on Coosa River without documented restocking attempts

The Ports, Waterways & Intermodal Transit Committee voted to give House Bill 143 a favorable report after hearing testimony and debate over proposed slot limits on the Coosa River chain.

Representative Robbins, sponsor of HB 143, told the committee the bill would prevent the Department of Conservation from enforcing a slot limit in a given reservoir unless the department first attempted and documented restocking for that specific waterbody and shown the effort had failed. Robbins said the legislation responds to what he described as limited science that extrapolated from a single Auburn University study of Neely Henry Lake and to economic concerns raised by local governments and tournament organizers.

The bill matters because it ties any slot-limit regulation to demonstrable, reservoir-specific restocking efforts before the department can restrict fish length or bag limits. Robbins and other supporters said municipalities along the Coosa chain have passed or are preparing resolutions opposing slot limits and warned that uncertainty about possible rules is already harming local…