LDWF’s Coastwide Nutria Control Program Seeks Coastal Landowners, Hunters and Trappers to Aid in Battle Against Invasive Rodent

Aug. 7, 2017 – The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries’ (LDWF) Coastwide Nutria Control Program (CNCP) has removed almost five million nutria from the state’s marshes and wetlands since CNCP was established 15 years ago.
 
LDWF is looking to add more landowners, hunters, and trappers in its battle against the destructive rodent, which has damaged tens of thousands of acres of coastal land since its introduction into the state in the 1930s.
 
“The Coastwide Nutria Control Program is essential for keeping nutria populations at manageable levels to prevent their destruction of our valuable marshlands,’’ said LDWF biologist Catherine Normand, who oversees the program. “There remains a large amount of privately-owned property along the coast that is not currently enrolled in our program and people are missing out on this opportunity to protect their property, protect our coast, and earn money by controlling this invasive species.’’
 
The CNCP program is incentive based, paying registered participants $5 per nutria harvested from Nov. 20-March 31 each year. Registration for the program is free.
 
For landowners to enroll, their property must be located south of I-10 from the Texas-Louisiana border to Baton Rouge, south of I-12 from Baton Rouge to Slidell and south of I-10 from Slidell to the Mississippi-Louisiana border. Landowners can harvest nutria themselves or can be connected with interested hunters or trappers.
 
Information about the program can be found at http://nutria.com/site.php . Applications for hunters and trappers will be available at the website in September. For more information, contact Catherine Normand at cnormand@wlf.la.gov or 337-373-0032.