The fall
inshore shrimp season will open in Shrimp Management Zones
1, 2 and 3 at noon on Monday, Aug. 11, 2008. The Louisiana
Wildlife and Fisheries Commission approved the season dates
at its Aug. 7 meeting, based upon recommendations presented
by Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Marine Fisheries
Division biological staff and public comment.
The closing date
set by the commission for these waters is official sunset
Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2008 except for the open waters of Breton
and Chandeleur Sounds as described by the double-rig line
(LA R.S.56:495.1(A)2) which will remain open to shrimping
until 6 a.m. March 31, 2009.
Zone 1 includes
Louisiana waters from the Mississippi-Louisiana state line
to the eastern shore of South Pass of the Mississippi River.
Zone 2 extends from the eastern shore of South Pass of the
Mississippi River to the western shore of Vermilion Bay and
Southwest Pass at Marsh Island. Zone 3 extends from the western
shore of Vermilion Bay and Southwest Pass at Marsh Island
to the Louisiana-Texas state line.
The commission
also authorized the LDWF Secretary to change the closing dates
of the 2008 fall shrimp season if biological and technical
data indicate a need to do so or if enforcement problems develop
and to close and reopen all or parts of state inside and outside
waters if significant numbers of small white shrimp are found
in these waters.
According to LDWF
trip ticket report data, 2007 Louisiana shrimp landings measured
110.9 million pounds and were valued at $139.8 million. White
shrimp landings accounted for approximately 64.5 million pounds
or 58 percent of total shrimp landings and were worth $95.5
million. Although white shrimp landings declined 14.5 million
pounds from the previous year, harvest remained approximately
9.8 million pounds above the annual long-term average in 2007.
Trip ticket data also indicated that 3,295 commercial shrimp
fishermen reported sales of shrimp and took 42,873 shrimping
trips in 2007.
