Leisure Purple Snapper Season Closes for LA Anglers

To offer extra fishing alternatives for crimson snapper fishermen all through the summer season months, the Louisiana Division of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) Secretary Madison Sheahan has signed an emergency declaration to shut the leisure crimson snapper season in state and federal waters off the coast of Louisiana at 11:59 p.m. on July 7, 2024, till 12:01 a.m. on Friday, July 12, 2024.

The season is scheduled to reopen on July 12 as a weekends-only season. Weekends are outlined as Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, together with Labor Day. The ultimate day of the 2024 Purple Snapper Season will likely be Monday, September 2, 2024, after which it should shut till additional discover.

The 2024 season has been extremely profitable, with anglers catching extra crimson snapper than since tighter laws have been put in place. Anglers at the moment are having fun with a each day creel restrict of 4 fish per particular person and dimension limits, with a minimal whole size of 16 inches.

Knowledge from LA Creel, one of the vital trusted methods for counting fish, signifies that crimson snapper harvest charges have been larger than anticipated, necessitating a season modification to maximise fishing alternatives for anglers.

LDWF Assistant Secretary of Fisheries Ryan Montegut acknowledged that the division’s swift decision-making straight advantages from managing the fishery. “LDWF’s skill to actively handle crimson snapper permits us to shortly alter the season to proceed offering high quality fishing alternatives all through the summer season,” stated Montegut. “The season modification demonstrates the pliability that state administration offers to Louisiana, a luxurious not accessible to all different Gulf states.”

“With the transition to weekends solely, we count on the crimson snapper season to proceed effectively into August and presumably past Labor Day.”

Newest estimates for personal leisure crimson snapper landings via June 16, 2024, point out that 513,444 kilos, or 54.9% of Louisiana’s 2024 annual personal leisure allocation of 934,587 kilos, have been harvested throughout the 2024 crimson snapper season from April 15 to June 16.

For extra info on the 2024 crimson snapper season and detailed touchdown estimates, go to https://www.wlf.louisiana.gov/web page/red-snapper.

Keith Lusher

Keith Lusher is an award successful out of doors journalist that resides in Covington, Louisiana. He owns and operates NorthshoreFishingReport.com and writes a weekly out of doors column for the Slidell Unbiased Newspaper. He additionally writes for the St.Tammany Parish Tourism Fee’s VisitTheNorthshore.com. He’s the previous host of The Northshore Fishing Report Radio Present and is on the board of the Louisiana Out of doors Writers Affiliation. Keith contributes to quite a few publications each on-line and in print and prides himself on selling South Louisiana’s distinctive fishery. To contact Keith e-mail: keithlusherjr@gmail.com