(AP) - Louisiana will close its spring inshore shrimping season Monday evening because biologists are finding more juvenile white shrimp in inshore waters.
The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries says all remaining inshore waters between the Mississippi and Texas state lines — including Louisiana’s part of the Mississippi Sound — will close at 6 p.m. Monday.
The open waters of Breton and Chandeleur Sounds and all state waters seaward of the Inside/Outside Shrimp Line will remain open to shrimping until further notice, a news release said Thursday.
Closing the area closer to shore will protect developing white shrimp so they can grow to more marketable sizes.
A map of the affected areas is on the department’s shrimp season webpage.