The
2007 spring inshore shrimp season in the remaining portion
of Shrimp Management Zone 3 currently open to shrimping, which
includes the Calcasieu Ship Channel originating at a line
between Channel Markers 85 and 86 southward to a point originating
along the inside/outside shrimp line at Calcasieu Pass as
described in LA R.S.56:495(A) and including East Pass from
its origin at the Calcasieu Ship Channel to the south end
of Calcasieu Lake and West Pass from its origin at the Calcasieu
Ship Channel to the south end of West Cove will close on Saturday,
July 7, at 6 p.m. Zone 1 will remain open until further notice.
State territorial waters south of the Inside/Outside shrimp
line, as described in Louisiana R.S.56:495, will also remain
open to shrimping.
Zone 1 includes
state waters from the Mississippi/Louisiana state line to
the eastern shore of South Pass of the Mississippi River and
Zone 3 includes state waters from the western shore of Vermilion
Bay and Southwest Pass at Marsh Island to the Louisiana/Texas
state line.
The closure was
announced today by Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries
(LDWF) Secretary Bryant O. Hammett, Jr. and was based on recommendations
made by LDWF Marine Fisheries Division biologists.
The number, distribution
and percentage of small juvenile white shrimp within the area
to be closed has progressively increased in recent weeks.
Analysis of current LDWF shrimp trawl sampling data indicates
substantial population increases this week and these waters
are being closed to protect these developing shrimp.
