Louisiana inshore shrimp season starts Monday in most areas

PLAQUEMINES PARISH, LA – AUGUST 27: Nearly 600 pounds of shrimp from Acy Cooper’s shrimp trawler are cleaned and weighed at a seafood dealer following a 12 hour plus overnight shift of shrimping on August 27, 2019 off the coast of Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana. The Cooper family are four generations of fishermen and shrimping is their family tradition. With the Mississippi River at historically high water levels earlier this year due to severe flooding in the Midwest, the opening of the Bonnet Carre Spillway in southern Louisiana has flooded the saltwater marshes with fresh water. The fresh water has driven crabs, shrimp and fish out of bays and marshes and out further to sea into saltier water where they can survive. According to a release from the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, the spring shrimp season catch was down over 60 percent compared to the five-year average putting a strain on the fishermen who make their livelihood on the water. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Posted: Aug 7, 2020 / 07:31 AM CDT

Updated: Aug 7, 2020 / 07:31 AM CDT

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — The fall inshore shrimp season will open Monday across most of Louisiana, but the Biloxi Marsh and part of the Mermentau River won’t open for another two weeks.

The state Department of Wildlife and Fisheries posted a map and a detailed description of those areas and a map on its website Thursday. The Mermentau River is clsoed from the Gulf of Mexico to Grand Lake. Also still closed is all of the Biloxi Marsh, which is located north of the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet.

The dates are those when state biologists think white shrimp will have reached marketable size, based on trawl samples and other factors.

White shrimp must be large enough that there are at most 100 whole shrimp per pound.

Smaller shrimp can be taken from Oct. 15 through the third Monday in December.

By: Associated Press