Due to the impacts of hurricanes Laura and Delta, LDWF is extending the application deadline by a month for the $14.6 million in financial assistance available to Louisiana's fishing industry hurt financially by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Hurricanes Laura, Delta, Zeta, and Ida, which swept through Louisiana during various points in 2020 and 2021, resulted in an estimated $579 million in losses to the state’s fisheries infrastructure, revenues, and biological resources, according to a study by the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, LSU and Louisiana Sea Grant.
LDWF has announced that the daily take and possession limit of oysters shall not exceed 10 sacks in Calcasieu Lake Public Oyster Area effective one-half hour after sunrise next Friday (Oct. 30, 2020). Biological data collected post hurricanes Laura and Delta have indicated reduced oyster stocks in Calcasieu Lake.
LDWF invites the public back to the Lacassine National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) after the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) recently announced the reopening of the area closed since Hurricane Laura.