Crab

You can recreationally harvest blue or stone crabs using any legal crab trap, crab drop net, trawl*, hoop net, trotline, handline, bushline, dip net, or cast net. Dredges are not allowed for recreational crab harvesting.

*Trawls can only be used recreationally during the open shrimp season and must follow trawl gear restrictions. See Shrimp section below.

Crab traps:

• No more than 10 traps per licensed fisherman
• Must be marked with a 1/2" inch stainless steel self-locking tag attached to the center of the trap ceiling or durable plastic bait box marker. The tag or marker must have the fisherman’s recreational crab trap gear license number.
• Must be marked with a solid float at least 6 inches in diameter. The float must be attached to the trap with a non-floating line at least ¼-inch in diameter. Floats are not required in most freshwater areas north of the northern bank of the Intracoastal Waterway and west of LA Highway 70 and areas on the eastern side of the Mississippi River and inland from the saltwater line (except in lakes).
• May be attached to a trotline; one end of the trotline must be attached to a non-floating line and a visible float at least 6 inches in diameter or 2-gallon volume size.
• Each trap must have a minimum of three escape rings. A minimum of two escape rings must be located in the upper chamber flush with the baffle. A minimum of one escape ring must be located in the lower chamber no greater than one mesh length from the trap floor. As of July 1, 2022, all escape rings must be located no greater than one mesh length from the corners. The minimum sizes of the rings must be 2 and 3/8 inches in inside diameter, not including the ring material. The rings must be rigid and attached to the trap with material of an equal or smaller diameter than the wire strands of the trap. Except from April 1 through June 30 and from September 1 through October 31, escape ring openings must not be obstructed with any material that prevents or hampers exit of crabs. However, these provisions do not apply to any crab trap constructed of wire mesh 2 and 5/16 inches square or greater.
• Must not be placed in navigable channels or entrances to streams. You must place traps so vessels can safely navigate.
• No metal tackle or metal crab traps in any public waters north of the Intracoastal Waterway in the Calcasieu River, in any waterbody in the Calcasieu River System north of the Intracoastal Waterway, or in Vermilion Bay from Cypremort Point, one mile offshore to Blue Point.
• No crab traps in the Tchefuncte River.
• May be prohibited on certain LDWF WMAs and refuges. Consult your local LDWF office or see the latest recreational regulations for details.
• Owners must remove and properly dispose of or store crab traps that are no longer serviceable or no longer in use.
• Only the licensed crab trap owner or his agent may remove the contents of their crab traps or intentionally damage or destroy serviceable crab traps or their floats or lines.

There may be additional gear restrictions within WMAs, refuges, or other areas. Consult your local LDWF office or see the latest recreational regulations for details.

Oyster

Shrimp

Cast nets, dip nets, and bait seines:

• Cast nets must not exceed 8-1/2 feet in radius.
• Bait seines must not exceed 30 feet in length.

Trawls:

• Must be no longer than 25 feet
• Mesh must be at least 5/8-inch bar or 1-1/4 inches stretched; exception: mesh must be at least ¾-inch bar or 1-1/2 inches stretched during the fall inshore shrimp season in state from the western shore of the Atchafalaya River to the western shore of Vermilion Bay and Southwest Pass at Marsh Island
• Must have an approved turtle excluder device (TED) installed in each net rigged for fishing. Exception: manually retrieved trawls and test trawls. Instead, shrimpers fishing with manually retrieved or test trawls must limit their tow times to 75 minutes from November 1 through March 31 and 55 minutes from April 1 through October 31 to reduce potential impacts on sea turtles.
• You may not leave net or beam trawls unattended.
• No trawling in state waters when the shrimp season is closed.
• No trawling over any privately leased bedding grounds or oyster propagating place that is staked off, marked, or posted as required by law or regulation.
• No trawling in Lake Maurepas and in Lake Pontchartrain from the shoreline to 1-1/4 miles out from the Jefferson/Orleans Parish line east to the eastern shore of South Point, from South Point to North Shore along the railroad bridge west from North Shore to Goose Point, and between the railroad bridge and Interstate 10.
• No trawling in Bayou Judge Perez (Bayou Hermitage) from its entrance into Lake Judge Perez (Bayou Hermitage) to Devils Bayou, about 1 mile in distance, in Plaquemines Parish.
• No trawling north of the LA Highway 631 Bridge at Des Allemands and in Lac Des Allemands, its streams, and tributaries.
• No trawling in the cove immediately adjacent to Cypremort Point State Park landward of a line from Blue Point to Cypremort Point to the shoreline.