2006
Louisiana Fall Shrimp Season to Open
Posted:
8/4/06
The fall
inshore shrimp season will open in that portion of Shrimp
Management Zone 2 from the eastern shore of South Pass of
the Mississippi River to the Atchafalaya River Ship Channel
at Eugene Island as delineated by the Channel red buoy line
at noon Monday, Aug. 14, 2006. The remaining portion of Zone
2 and all of Zones 1 and 3 will open at noon Monday, Aug.
21, 2006. The Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission
approved these season dates at its Aug. 3 meeting, based upon
recommendations presented by LDWF Marine Fisheries Division
staff.
The closing
date set by the commission for these waters is official sunset
Tuesday, Dec. 19, 2006 except for the open waters of Breton
and Chandeleur Sounds as described by the double-rig line
(LA R.S.56:495.1(A)2) which will remain open to shrimping
until 6 a.m. March 31, 2007.
Zone 1
includes Louisiana waters from the Mississippi-Louisiana state
line to the eastern shore of South Pass of the Mississippi
River. Zone 2 extends from to the eastern shore of South Pass
of the Mississippi River to the western shore of Vermilion
Bay and Southwest Pass at Marsh Island. Zone 3 extends from
the western shore of Vermilion Bay and Southwest Pass at Marsh
Island to the Louisiana-Texas state line.
Recognizing
the potential for an early fall shrimp season opening, the
Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission previously provided
Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Secretary Dwight
Landreneau authority to open the fall inshore shrimp season
in the event that white shrimp populations reached legal harvestable
sizes before the Aug. 3 commission meeting. However, biological
sampling has indicated significant recruitment of smaller
juvenile white shrimp into portions of state waters in recent
weeks and the department's biological staff did not recommend
an opening in advance of the meeting.
The commission
also authorized Landreneau to change the closing dates of
the 2006 fall shrimp season if biological and technical data
indicate a need to do so or if enforcement problems develop
and to close and reopen all or parts of state inside and outside
waters if significant numbers of small white shrimp are found
in these waters.
According
to LDWF trip ticket report data, Louisiana commercial shrimp
landings in 2005 totaled approximately 102.1 million pounds
(heads-on weight) and had a dockside value of $132.8. White
shrimp accounted for nearly 60 percent of shrimp landings
and 69 percent of the value of shrimp landed in Louisiana
last year.
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