Saltwater/Freshwater Line

Louisiana's saltwater/freshwater line extends easterly from the Texas state line all the way to the Mississippi state line. Areas north of this line are freshwater. Areas south of this line are saltwater, including Lakes Maurepas, Pontchartrain, and St. Catherine, Chef Menteur Pass (except a 7/10-mile section from Bayou Sauvage south to the Intracoastal Waterway), the Rigolets, Unknown Pass, Pass Manchac, the Intracoastal Waterway, and the portion of the Calcasieu Ship Channel from the Intracoastal Waterway south to the Gulf of America.

The line runs from the Intracoastal Waterway from the Texas-Louisiana boundary to its junction with Louisiana Highway 27 at Gibbstown, south to Louisiana Highway 82, east to its junction with the Intracoastal Waterway from Forked Island to Bayou Barataria to the Harvey Canal, the Harvey Canal to the Mississippi River, the Mississippi River to the Industrial Canal, the Industrial Canal to the Intracoastal Waterway, the Intracoastal Waterway to the Rigolets in Orleans Parish to the Louisville & Nashville Railroad Bridge, and the Louisville & Nashville Railroad right-of way from the Orleans Parish line to the Mississippi state line.

If you're fishing and/or possessing saltwater fish, you must have an LDWF Saltwater Fishing License in addition to an LDWF Basic Fishing License. Louisiana has many areas where you can catch fresh and saltwater species side by side. Instead of trying to determine exactly where the saltwater line is, the best practice is to purchase the additional LDWF Saltwater Fishing License if you’re fishing anywhere in south Louisiana and plan to catch any saltwater species.