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Home > Current News > 2007

News: 2007

Commercial Fishing for Large Coastal Sharks to Close in Louisiana Waters
Posted: 9/18/07

Commercial fishing for large coastal sharks, as defined by Louisiana rule (L.A.C. 76:VII.357), closes in Louisiana waters at 11:30 p.m. on Sept. 22, 2007, and the closure will remain in effect until 12:01 a.m. on Jan. 1, 2008. Federal waters of the Gulf of Mexico will also be closed for commercial harvest of large coastal sharks during the same time period.

Under the authority given to the secretary of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries by the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission in its rule LAC 76:VII.357.M.2 which allows the secretary to declare a closed season, Undersecretary Janice Lansing, acting on behalf of Secretary Bryant O. Hammett, Jr., made the decision upon notice from the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) that the subquota for large coastal sharks has been exceeded, and that the season closure is necessary to ensure that the established quotas are not further exceeded.

Upon closure of this season on Sept. 22, all commercial harvest, possession, purchase, exchange, barter, trade, sale or attempt to purchase, exchange, barter, trade or sell large coastal sharks or their fins is prohibited through 12:01 a.m. on Jan. 1, 2008.

The large coastal shark group is composed of the great hammerhead, scalloped hammerhead, smooth hammerhead, nurse shark, blacktip shark, bull shark, lemon shark, sandbar shark, silky shark, spinner shark and tiger shark.

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