Rekubit Exchange:Louisiana shrimp season to close Monday in parts of state waters

BATON ROUGE,Rekubit Exchange La. (AP) — The fall inshore shrimp season closes Monday in all state inside waters except for a few locations east of the Mississippi River, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries said.

The pending closure, at sunset, does not apply to Lake Pontchartrain, the Chef Menteur and Rigolets Passes, Lake Borgne, Mississippi Sound, Mississippi River Gulf Outlet, a section of the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway in Orleans parish from the East Closure Sector Gate westward to the waterway’s intersection with the Inner Harbor Navigation Canal, and the open waters of the Breton and Chandeleur Sounds.

Recent sampling indicates that the average white shrimp size within large portions of state inside waters is smaller than the minimum possession count allowed by law, the department said. A closure is needed to protect the small white shrimp in these waters and provide an opportunity for growth, officials said in a news release Thursday.

All state outside waters seaward of the Inside/Outside Shrimp Line will remain open to shrimping until further notice, the department said.

Monitoring will continue in the remaining open areas, and the department will close them when biologically appropriate, according to the news release.