BATON ROUGE, La.--Today, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries announced that the season for the recreational harvest of gray triggerfish will close in Louisiana waters at 12:01 a.m. on Saturday, May 11, 2019. The season is currently scheduled to re-open on March 1, 2020.

NOAA Fisheries has informed the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries that the annual catch target for the Gulf of Mexico of 217,100 pounds is projected to be met by May 11, 2019, and that the season will be closed in Federal waters at that time. The closures in state and federal waters are necessary to prevent overfishing of the gray triggerfish stock.

Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Secretary Jack Montoucet was authorized by the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission in previously promulgated rules (LAC 76.VII.335.G.5) to change or modify the opening and closing dates for any recreational reef fish season in Louisiana waters when notified of a modification to a season by NOAA Fisheries.

For more information, contact Jason Adriance at (504) 284-2032 or jadriance @wlf.la.gov.

The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries is charged with managing and protecting Louisiana’s abundant natural resources. For more information, visit us at www.wlf.la.gov. To receive email alerts, signup at http://www.wlf.la.gov/signup.