Inland Shrimp season opens May 23

[Gerald]

The opening dates of the 2016 Louisiana spring shrimp season were announced at today’s Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission. The Commission set the spring shrimp season dates based on information provided by Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries biologists and on public comments.

The opening dates for the 2016 Louisiana spring shrimp season are as follows:

• All state inshore waters at 6 a.m. on Monday, May 23
• The portion of state outside waters from the Atchafalaya River Ship Channel to the western shore of Freshwater Bayou to open at 6 a.m. on Monday, May 23

LDWF biologists have monitored hydrological parameters and conducted over 500 trawl samples throughout the state’s estuarine and nearshore waters over the last five weeks to develop management recommendations for spring inshore opening dates. The department provided projections of the dates when a minimum of 50 percent of the inshore brown shrimp population sampled reach sizes of 100 count per pound or larger.

The Commission granted authority to the Secretary of the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries to close the season when biological and technical data indicate significant numbers of small, white shrimp have recruited into inshore waters or if law enforcement problems develop. The Secretary is further granted the authority to open any area or reopen any previously closed area, and to open and close special shrimp seasons in any portion of state waters.