With thousands of miles of coastal marshes, estuaries and shallow bays teeming with nutrients, Louisiana has ample habitat to foster abundant shrimp populations. White shrimp and brown shrimp are the two most common species to our waters. Commercial shrimping is big business in Louisiana, but many recreational fishermen harvest shrimp to use as bait to eat, too.
The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries manages shrimp fisheries based on science. Every month LDWF biologists conduct samples to monitor the growth, distribution and abundance of shrimp in Louisiana’s marshes, coastal lakes and bays. At hundreds of sample locations, they tow a trawl through the water, count and identify the species they catch, measure a random selection of the shrimp catch and record the data. Water temperature, salinity and dissolved oxygen levels are also recorded.
They then compile the data and plug it into mathematical models. Using this information, LDWF biologists project when the majority of the shrimp population within the state’s seven major estuarine basins will reach a marketable size. Managers use these projects to recommend when open and close the shrimp season.
By adjusting seasons in response to biological and environmental information, managers have been able to allow fishermen more opportunities to go shrimping.
For regulations information, click HERE.
Additional information is available here
Brown Shrimp profile
White Shrimp profile
