March 6, 2017 — The Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission announced a Declaration of Emergency to open the commercial season for the harvest of bait menhaden starting Wednesday, March 15, 2017.
The actions on this declaration by the LWFC comes after request from the bait menhaden industry.
The commercial season for the harvest of bait menhaden typically opens on November 1 and runs through November 30 with a 3,000 metric ton quota. In the event that quota is not harvested during the normal November season, the bait season may resume April 1 of the following year.