State Starts Process to Reopen Fishing in Southwest Louisiana

Posted: Sep 10, 2010 6:16 AM by Posted by Sharlee Barriere

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - State wildlife and fisheries regulators have taken the first step toward reopening waters west of the Mississippi Delta to commercial fishing.
Officials say the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries has began sampling crab, shrimp and finfish in Terrebonne and Timbalier bays, which were closed earlier this summer after oil from the spill in the Gulf of Mexico creeped into the area. The move, announced Thursday, marks the first federal testing to take place on seafood since the waters were closed. Once the samples are determined to be safe, officials say the area will be opened to commercial fishing.
The process is expected to be completed in two weeks.

Topics: state, starts, process, reopen, fishing, SW, sw, La, LA, louisiana, la