Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission Adopts a Notice of Intent to Designate the Fishing Boundary for Crappie Fishing on Lake D’Arbonne

Louisiana Dept. of Wildlife and Fisheries 02.07.13

Today, the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission adopted a notice of intent to designate the fishing boundary for crappie fishing on Lake D’Arbonne in Union and Lincoln parishes. This rule defines Lake D’Arbonne using the same geographic markers as used in the Department’s netting prohibition regulation.

Lake D’Arbonne includes all areas between the Bayou D’Arbonne spillway structure and Gill’s Ferry Landing on D’Arbonne Creek and Hogpen Landing on Corney Creek.

The daily bag limit was changed to 25 crappie in November 2012. The change from 50 to 25 fish was approved by the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission in response to concerns of overfishing that some anglers had expressed.

To view the full notice of intent, please visit http://www.wlf.louisiana.gov/sites/default/files/pdf/document/36343-bayo… Interested persons may submit written comments relative to the proposed rule by March 31, 2013, to Mike Wood, Office of Fisheries, Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, P.O. Box 98000, Baton Rouge, LA 70898-9000 or via email at comment@wlf.la.gov.

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.