May 5, 2017 — Local shrimpers can return to inshore waters at 6 a.m. Monday when the spring shrimp season begins.
The Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission today set the opening dates of the season based on data provided by its biologists and public comments.
The middle of the state, which includes the Terrebonne and Barataria basins, will be the first to open.
“If you look at Barataria and Terrebonne basins, they account for about 80 percent of brown shrimp landings,” said LDWF biologist Jeff Marx. “The next 10 percent is from Pontchartrain, a little bit from the Mississippi River Delta and very small amounts in the Atchafalaya, Vermilion and Calcasieu” basins.
Following the opening of Zone 2, which stretches from the western shore of the Vermilion Bay to the eastern shore of the mouth of the Mississippi River in Plaquemines Parish, the rest of the state will open at 6 a.m. May 15.
Marx recommended to the LDWF board that the season should begin next week because of favorable conditions for shrimp this year. All of the shrimpers agreed with Marx and said opening the season next week was the right option. Some shrimpers said the season should have opened earlier.
“I was here at the last meeting in April, they had a bunch of guys that wanted to wait,” said John Brown, a shrimper from Barataria. “I think the shrimp season should’ve opened in April.”