On July 24, Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) received several reports from concerned citizens of menhaden boats potentially operating within the buffer zone, fishing too close to the shore in Terrebonne Parish. LDWF would like to thank the public for their vigilance in reporting the potential menhaden boat violations. After a thorough compliance check by LDWF Enforcement agents, it was determined that the menhaden boats in question were operating legally outside of the buffer zone and thus committed no violations.
As a reminder, the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission took several actions last year governing the commercial menhaden fishery, including the modification and expansion of a buffer zone limiting how close these vessels can fish to the coastline.
The menhaden fishery buffer zone has a one-half-mile coastwide buffer zone. There is an extended 1-mile buffer at Grand Terre, Elmers Island, and Holly Beach. Additionally, an extended three-mile buffer is in place at Grand Isle. Below is a link to a web page with maps and downloadable files with the coordinates of these buffer zones.
https://www.wlf.louisiana.gov/page/menhaden-buffer-zone
“I would like to thank all members of the public who are participating in LDWF’s mission to conserve, protect, and promote the vital fisheries of our state,” said Tyler Bosworth, Secretary of Wildlife and Fisheries. “We rely heavily on information from the public to help protect the game, fish, and habitats of our state”.
LDWF agents responded to the complaints on July 24 and found a fleet of menhaden boats between Taylor’s Bayou and Wine Island outside of the buffer zone. Agents boarded two of the vessels specifically in question to perform compliance checks and were allowed access to their GPS tracking. The captains of the vessels were cooperative and the track paths from the GPS showed the menhaden vessels were found to be outside of the buffer zone where the boundary shifts northward near Raccoon Island.