At today’s meeting, the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission (LWFC) adopted a Notice of Intent (NOI) allowing the removal of derelict crab traps along Louisiana’s coast from the following five areas in 2026:
- The first closure will occur in the Calcasieu Basin, between the Intracoastal Waterway and Hackberry, from 12:00 a.m. February 2, 2026, through 11:59 p.m. February 15, 2026.
- The second closure will occur in the Vermilion-Teche Basin, all waters east of Marsh Island, from 12:00 a.m. February 2, 2026, through 11:59 p.m. February 15, 2026.
- The third closure will occur in the Pontchartrain Basin, east of the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway, from 12:00 a.m. February 2, 2026, through 11:59 p.m. February 15, 2026.
- The fourth closure will occur in the Barataria Basin, between Myrtle Grove and the Freeport Sulphur Canal, from 12:00 a.m. February 9, 2026, through 11:59 p.m. February 22, 2026.
- The fifth closure will occur in the Terrebonne Basin, an area south of Pointe Aux Chenes Wildlife Management Area, from 12:00 a.m. February 16, 2026, through 11:59 p.m. March 1, 2026.
Since 2004, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) and individual volunteers and organizations have successfully removed and disposed of over 58,000 abandoned and derelict crab traps. Removing these crab traps is especially important to boating safety and crab harvesting efforts.
All crab traps remaining in the closed area during the specified period will be considered abandoned.
In the weeks leading up to the closure, LDWF will mail* notices to all commercial crab trap license holders and crab buyers within the affected parishes, as well as non-resident licensed crab fishermen who landed blue crab within the previous year from Louisiana waters.
*Please contact our Licensing Department to update your contact information if you have landed crab within the past several years and have not received a letter in the mail from LDWF about the past crab trap closure areas.
These proposed trap removal regulations do not provide authorization for access to private property. Authorization to access private property can only be provided by individual landowners.
Crab traps may be removed between one half-hour before sunrise and one half-hour after sunset. Only LDWF or those designated by LDWF will be authorized to remove derelict crab traps in the closure areas. Abandoned traps must be brought to LDWF-designated disposal sites.
View the closure maps at the derelict crab trap closure website.
Interested persons may submit written comments relative to the proposed rule to Peyton Cagle, Marine Fisheries Biologist, Marine Fisheries Section, 1025 Tom Watson Rd., Lake Charles, LA 70615, or via e-mail to: pcagle@wlf.la.gov prior to October 1, 2026.