Oyster Season to Close in Small Portion of Louisiana’s Public Grounds

Louisiana Dept. of Wildlife and Fisheries 10.31.12

Today the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries announced oyster season will close this Saturday, November 3, at one-half hour after sunset in the Lake Chien and Lake Felicity Public Oyster Seed Grounds in Terrebonne Parish. In addition, the harvest of seed oysters for bedding purposes will close in the Hackberry Bay Public Oyster Seed Reservation (POSR), located in Jefferson and Lafourche parishes, at one half hour after sunset on Saturday, November 3. Hackberry Bay remains open for sacking purposes.

These small public oyster seed grounds historically hold a very limited oyster supply and harvest pressure during the 2012 oyster season depleted the resource. Protection of the remaining oyster resource is in the long-term best interest of oyster conservation in these public seed grounds.

Public notice of any opening, delay, or closure of a season will be provided at least 72 hours prior to such action, unless such closure is ordered by the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals for public health concerns.

The Department of Wildlife and Fisheries is charged with managing and protecting Louisiana’s abundant natural resources. For more information, visit us at www.wlf.la.gov, and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ldwffb, or follow us on Twitter @LDWF.

Louisiana Dept. of Wildlife and Fisheries

The Louisiana Department of Wildlife & Fisheries – Enforcement Division(LDWF) is the fish & game regulatory agency of Louisiana. It has jurisdictionanywhere in the state, and in state territorial waters. The agency enforces both state and federal laws dealing with hunting, fishing, and boating safety. The agency also enforces criminal laws in rural areas including DWI enforcement both on highways and waterways. Most of the Department’s Wildlife Agents also carry Federal law enforcement commissions issued from the United States Department of the Interior - U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and United States Department of Commerce - U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). These federal commissions allow these state officers to enforce federal migratory waterfowl laws and federal marine fisheries laws in state and federal waters off the coast of Louisiana. Besides their traditional role as a “game warden”, Louisiana Wildlife Enforcement Agents also have a number of other responsibilities, including conducting board of health inspections on some portions of the state’s commercial fishing industry. Agents are trained in and conduct numerous search and rescue operations, both in remote land areas and on the state’s waterways. Agents ensure that hunters, anglers, boaters, dealers, breeders, farmers, and transporters are in compliance with regulations governing equipment, quotas, licenses, and registrations. Agents also assist other State departments and law enforcement agencies in the coordination of educational and professional endeavors, as well as national and state emergency alerts by the Federal Office of Emergency Preparedness. In addition, agents perform search and rescue missions alone or in conjunction with other local, state, and federal agencies.