Commission
Sets 2006 Seasons for Red Snapper and Other Reef Fishes
Posted:
1/6/06
Two declarations
of emergency, one setting the 2006 recreational fishing season
dates for red snapper and the other setting the 2006 commercial
fishing season dates for red snapper and other reef fish and
setting trip limits for grouper, were issued by the Louisiana
Wildlife and Fisheries Commission at the Jan. 5 meeting, as
recommended by the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries
(LDWF).
The recreational
fishing season for red snapper in Louisiana state waters will
open at 12:01 a.m. on April 21, 2006. The season will remain
open until midnight Oct. 31 to coincide with season dates
in federal waters. The size limit for red snapper taken by
recreational fishermen will be 16 inches minimum total length,
with a daily bag limit and possession limit of four fish per
person.
The commission
also authorized LDWF Secretary Dwight Landreneau to change
or modify opening and closing dates for the recreational red
snapper season in Louisiana waters to comply with changes
or modifications in season dates in federal waters.
The first commercial
fishing season for red snapper will open at 12 noon on Feb.
1, 2006, and remain open until 12 noon on Feb. 10. This pattern
will continue each month until two-thirds of the 2006 commercial
quota for red snapper is harvested. The second commercial
red snapper season will open at 12 noon on Oct. 1, 2006, and
remain open until 12 noon on Oct. 10. The pattern will also
continue each month until the entire 2006 quota is harvested.
The minimum size limit for commercially harvested red snapper
is 15 inches total length.
The commission
also authorized the LDWF secretary to change opening and closing
dates for the commercial red snapper season in Louisiana waters
to comply with changes or modifications in season dates in
federal waters.
The commission
also set a commercial trip and possession limit for deep-water
and shallow-water grouper combined (black, misty, Warsaw,
red, snowy, yellowedge, yellowfin and yellowmouth groupers,
red hind, rock hind, speckled hind, gag and scamp), to be
6,000 pounds per vessel.
The commission
authorized the LDWF secretary to establish and modify trip
and possession limits and to close the season for the commercial
harvest of any species or group of species of reef fish in
Louisiana state waters if he is informed by the Regional Administrator
of the National Marine Fisheries Service that the applicable
commercial quota has been harvested in the Gulf of Mexico,
and if he is requested by NMFS to enact compatible regulations
in Louisiana state waters.
The secretary was
also authorized to re-open and close those commercial seasons
in Louisiana state waters if the commercial season dates in
the Federal waters of the Gulf of Mexico have been modified,
and that NMFS requests that the season be modified in Louisiana
state waters.
The commission's
actions ensure that regulations in state waters will complement
regulations of the NMFS for federally managed waters. NMFS
and the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council typically
request consistent regulations for Louisiana waters to enhance
effectiveness and enforceability of regulations.
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