Alligator season delayed due to Hurricane Katrina
Secretary of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries
September 9, 2005
The Secretary of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries has delayed the opening and closing dates of the 2005 wild alligator harvest season in accordance with the provisions of R.S. 49:953B of the Administrative Procedure Act and LAC 76:V.701 due to Hurricane Katrina. The opening and closing dates of the 2005 wild alligator harvest season will be delayed seven days and will open state wide on Sept. 14 and close statewide on Oct. 13.
The catastrophic damages of Hurricane Katrina has severely impacted millions of people and hundreds of thousands of acres of coastal marshes. Alligator populations in affected areas have been displaced and suffered some degree of direct mortality. LDWF’s assessments of these impacts are still ongoing.
Additionally, many communities in the affected area are without electricity, water, and telephone services and gas and ice are in short supply. Processors and dealers are unable to locate refrigerated trucks used for hauling and storage of alligators’ meat and skins and many of the state’s alligator hunters are still displaced. The lack of these resources will severely limit alligator processing and harvesting capabilities in southeast Louisiana.
Alligators taken from the wild may be removed from hook and line and taken with other legal capture devices only during daylight hours between official sunrise and sunset. These emergency procedures are necessary due to the magnitude of the impact from Hurricane Katrina in southeastern Louisiana.
For more information, contact Noel Kinler at 337-373-0032 or nkinler [at] wlf.louisiana.gov.
