The 2008
spring inshore shrimp season in Shrimp Management Zone 1 will
close on Saturday, July 12, at 6 p.m. except for the following
portions of Zone 1:
- That
portion of Mississippi Sound beginning at a point on the
Louisiana-Mississippi Lateral Boundary at latitude 30 degrees
09 minutes 39.6 seconds north and longitude 89 degrees 30
minutes 00 seconds west; thence southeasterly to a point
at latitude 30 degrees 03 minutes 12 seconds north and longitude
89 degrees 21 minutes 30 seconds west; thence northeasterly
to the most easterly point on Isle Au Pitre at latitude
30 degrees 09 minutes 20.5 seconds north and longitude 89
degrees 11 minutes 15.5 seconds west, which is a point on
the double–rig line as described in LA R.S. 56:495.1(A)2;
thence northerly along the double–rig line to a point
on the Louisiana-Mississippi Lateral Boundary at latitude
30 degrees 12 minutes 37.9056 seconds north and longitude
89 degrees 10 minutes 57.9725 seconds west; thence westerly
along the Louisiana-Mississippi Lateral Boundary to the
point of beginning.
- The
open waters of Breton and Chandeleur Sounds as described
by the double-rig line (LA R.S.56:495.1).
A portion
of Mississippi Sound and the open waters of Breton and Chandeleur
Sounds all located in Shrimp Management Zone 1 as well as
that portion of Zone 3 which includes the Calcasieu Ship Channel
originating at a line between Channel Markers 85 and 86 thence
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 remain open until further notice.
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 Secretary Robert Barham and was 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 have progressively increased
in recent weeks and these waters are being closed to protect
these developing shrimp.