The 2008
spring inshore shrimp season in the remainder of Shrimp Management
Zone 2 extending from the Atchafalaya River Ship Channel at
Eugene Island as delineated by the Channel red buoy line westward
to the western shore of Vermilion Bay and Southwest Pass at
Marsh Island and from the western shore of Bayou Lafourche
eastward to the eastern shore of South Pass of the Mississippi
River will close on Monday, June 30, at 6 a.m.
Effective with
this closure, all of Zone 2 will be closed to shrimping. Zones
1 and 3 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.
Zone 1 includes
state waters from the Mississippi/Louisiana state line to
the eastern shore of South Pass of the Mississippi River.
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 area
to be closed have progressively increased in recent weeks.
Analysis of current LDWF shrimp trawl sampling data indicates
substantial white shrimp population increases this week and
these additional waters are being closed to protect these
developing shrimp.
Paul Cook, Biologist
Manager who supervises LDWF Marine Fisheries Division operations
in the Vermilion/Atchafalaya Bay complex, noted that high
Mississippi and Atchafalaya River discharge rates have influenced
both water temperature and salinity levels leading up to the
spring shrimp season which caused quite a bit of anxiety among
the shrimping industry. Despite cooler water temperatures
and extremely fresh water conditions seen at the season's
opening, shrimp fishermen have harvested approximately 8.6
million of pounds of shrimp in May (all species combined/heads-off
weight) according to preliminary data developed by the National
Marine Fisheries Service.
