At its
Aug. 7 meeting, the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission
issued a declaration of emergency and notice of intent to
modify rules for the harvest of shark in the large coastal
shark species group (great hammerhead, scalloped hammerhead,
smooth hammerhead, nurse shark, blacktip shark, bull shark,
lemon shark, sandbar shark, silky shark, spinner shark and
tiger shark).
The modifications
to the existing rules are summarized below.
The commercial
fishery for large coastal shark in Louisiana state waters
will open at 12:01 a.m. Aug. 11, 2008 under the regulations
provided below. The pertinent parts of these rules will also
be effective for the recreational fishery for large coastal
shark at 12:01 a.m. Aug. 11, 2008.
No sandbar or silky
sharks may be retained under a recreational bag limit.
These species are
in addition to those species included in the prohibited species
group (basking shark, white shark, bigeye sand tiger, sand
tiger, whale shark, smalltooth sawfish, largetooth sawfish,
Atlantic angel shark, Caribbean sharpnose shark, smalltail
shark, bignose shark, Caribbean reef shark, dusky shark, Galapagos
shark, narrowtooth shark, night shark, bigeye sixgill shark,
bigeye thresher shark, longfin mako, sevengill shark and sixgill
shark).
Persons possessing
a Commercial State Shark Permit but no Federal Shark Permit
shall not possess on any trip, or land from any trip, or sell,
barter, trade, or exchange in excess of 33 sharks from the
large coastal species group, taken from Louisiana state waters.
Persons possessing a Commercial State Shark Permit shall not
possess any sandbar sharks unless they also have in their
name and in possession a valid Federal Shark Research Permit
under 50CFR635.32(1).
Shark fins shall
not be possessed aboard a fishing vessel unless naturally
attached to the original shark carcass by at least some portion
of uncut skin. All sharks possessed aboard a commercial fishing
vessel shall have fins including the tail intact and naturally
attached to the shark carcass by at least some portion of
uncut skin. It is illegal to replace sharks that are onboard
a fishing vessel for retention with sharks of higher quality
or size that are caught later in a particular trip.
Dealers purchasing
sharks from state or federal waters must report the landings
by species, and must specify the total shark fin numbers,
values and weights separately from the weights, values and
numbers of the shark carcasses.
If a harvester
retains the fins after offloading from the fishing vessel,
the harvester must also be licensed as a wholesale/retail
dealer, and must complete and file a trip ticket that includes
the numbers and weights of fins retained immediately after
being offloaded from the fishing vessel. Later transactions
of fins must have documentation referring to the original
trip ticket number for those fins. Such numbers and weights
must be recorded on dealer records in compliance with R.S.
56:306.5 and R.S. 56:306.6. Wholesale/Retail Dealers handling
federal and state regulated shark species should contact the
LDWF Trip Ticket office at 225-765-2393 for detailed instructions
on these requirements.
Public
comments on the Notice of Intent will be accepted prior to
Thursday, Oct. 7, 2008. Comments should be submitted to Harry
Blanchet, Marine Fisheries Division, Louisiana Department
of Wildlife and Fisheries, PO Box 98000, Baton Rouge, LA 70898-9000
or by email to hblanchet@wlf.louisiana.gov,
with "August Large Coastal Shark Notice of Intent"
in the subject line.
