Effective
Saturday, June 30, at 6 p.m., all inshore waters west of Bayou
Lafourche except for a portion of the Calcasieu Ship Channel
located in Cameron Parish will be closed to shrimping. An
additional closure of all inshore waters between Bayou Lafourche
and the eastern shore of South Pass of the Mississippi River
will become effective six-days later on Friday, July 6, at
6 p.m.
The Louisiana Department
of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) had earlier closed inshore
waters between the Atchafalaya River Channel westward to the
western shore of Vermilion Bay and Southwest Pass at Marsh
Island on June 25. After July 6, the only inside waters open
to shrimping will be a portion of the Calcasieu Ship Channel
and all of Shrimp Management Zone 1. Zone 1 includes state
waters from the Mississippi/Louisiana state line to the eastern
shore of South Pass of the Mississippi River.
To be more specific,
the 2007 spring inshore shrimp season in the remaining portion
of Shrimp Management Zone 2 currently open to shrimping will
close on Saturday, June 30, at 6 p.m. except for that portion
of Zone 2 extending from a point originating along the inside/outside
shrimp line as described in LA R.S.56:495(A) at the western
shore of Bayou Lafourche at Belle Pass at 29 degrees 05 minutes
10 seconds north latitude and 90 degrees 13 minutes 36 seconds
west longitude eastward to the eastern shore of South Pass
of the Mississippi River which will close on Friday, July
6, 2007 at 6 p.m.
The 2007 spring
inshore shrimp season in Shrimp Management Zone 3 will close
on Saturday, June 30, at 6 p.m. except for that portion of
Zone 3 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
which will remain open until further notice.
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.
The closures were
based on recommendations made by LDWF Marine Fisheries Division
biologists.
The number, distribution
and percentage of small juvenile white shrimp within the areas
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.
