Commercial
Fishing for Large Coastal Sharks Closes in Louisiana Waters
Posted:
9/3/03
Commercial
fishing for large coastal sharks (great hammerhead, scalloped
hammerhead, smooth hammerhead, nurse shark, blacktip shark,
bull shark, lemon shark, sandbar shark, silky shark, spinner
shark, and tiger shark) closes in Louisiana waters at 11:30
p.m. on September 15, 2003 and will remain closed through
December 31, 2003. Federal waters of the Gulf of Mexico will
also be closed for commercial harvest of large coastal sharks
during the same time period.
Effective with this closure, no person shall commercially
harvest, purchase, exchange, barter, trade, sell or attempt
to purchase, exchange, barter, trade or sell large coastal
sharks or fins thereof whether taken from within or with out
Louisiana territorial waters.
The decision was made by Louisiana Department of Wildlife
and Fisheries Secretary James H. Jenkins Jr., as authorized
by the state Wildlife and Fisheries Commission. Jenkins acted
following notification by the National Marine Fisheries Service
(NMFS) of changes to the season in federal waters.
NMFS determined that the large coastal shark commercial fishery
subquota for the second semiannual fishing season has been
reached and action is necessary to ensure that the semiannual
quota for large coastal sharks for the period July 1 through
December 31, 2003, is not exceeded.
Back
to Main
