Today, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries announced the 2014 spring inshore shrimp season will close at 6 a.m. on Tuesday, July 15, in the Terrebonne and Barataria Basins from the eastern shore of South Pass of the Mississippi River westward to the Atchafalaya River Ship Channel at Eugene Island as delineated by the River Channel Buoy Line. At the same time, shrimp season will close in the Lake Pontchartrain Basin except for the following waters:
- that portion of Lake Borgne seaward of a line extending one-half mile from the shoreline, and
- that portion of Mississippi Sound north of a line beginning at 30 degrees 05 minutes 00.0 seconds north latitude and 89 degrees 30 minutes 00.0 seconds west longitude; thence southeasterly to a point on the western shore of Three-Mile Pass at 30 degrees 03 minutes 00.0 seconds north latitude and 89 degrees 22 minutes 23.0 seconds west longitude; thence northeasterly to a point on Isle Au Pitre at 30 degrees 09 minutes 20.5 seconds north latitude and 89 degrees 11 minutes 15.5 seconds west longitude, which is a point on the double–rig line as described in R.S. 56:495.1(A)2, and
- the open waters of Breton and Chandeleur Sounds as described by the double-rig line.
Data collected in recent weeks by LDWF biologists indicate increased quantity, distribution and percentage of small, juvenile white shrimp within these waters. The decision to close these waters was made to protect these developing shrimp and provide opportunity for growth to larger and more marketable sizes.
The spring inshore shrimp season in the Vermilion/Teche River Basin closed on July 3 and all remaining state inside waters, as well as all state outside waters seaward of the Inside/Outside shrimp line, will remain open to shrimp harvesting until further notice, with the exception of those closure areas outlined in the map linked below.
For a map that details the areas currently open and closed to harvesting shrimp click here.
The Department of Wildlife and Fisheries is charged with managing and protecting Louisiana's abundant natural resources. For more information, visit us at www.wlf.louisiana.gov, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ldwffb, or follow us on Twitter @LDWF.
For press inquiries, contact Ashley Roth at 504-286-4162 or aroth@wlf.la.gov