Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 9, September 20, 2024
A. The following rules and regulations are
established for the taking and possession of sharks (including sawfishes)
(class Elasmobranchiomorphi: orders Hexanchiformes,
Lamniformes, Squaliformes, and Rajiformes) from within or without
Louisiana waters. The provisions of this Section shall not apply to shrimp or
menhaden harvest, and nothing contained herein is intended or shall be
construed to repeal, amend, or otherwise modify the provisions of law
applicable to shrimp or menhaden fishing, except for provisions:
1. outlawing finning of shark;
2. requiring a commercial state shark permit
for sale, barter, trade, or exchange;
3. limiting sale, barter, trade, or exchange
of sharks during closed seasons;
4.
limiting shark retained by non-permit holders to be only as a mixed part of the
total harvest, and only retained, held, or sold, purchased, bartered, traded,
or exchanged as such; and
5.
outlawing transfer of sharks between vessels at sea.
B. For management purposes, sharks are
divided into the following categories:
1.
small coastal sharks- bonnethead shark, Atlantic sharpnose shark, blacknose
shark, finetooth shark;
2. large
coastal sharks- great hammerhead, scalloped hammerhead, smooth hammerhead,
nurse shark, blacktip shark, bull shark, lemon shark, sandbar shark, silky
shark, spinner shark, tiger shark;
3. pelagic sharks- porbeagle shark, shortfin
mako, blue shark, oceanic whitetip shark, thresher shark;
4. prohibited species- basking shark, white
shark, bigeye sand tiger, sand tiger, whale shark, smalltooth sawfish,
largetooth sawfish, Atlantic angel shark, Caribbean sharpnose shark, smalltail
shark, bignose shark, Caribbean reef shark, dusky shark, Galapagos shark,
narrowtooth shark, night shark, bigeye sixgill shark, bigeye thresher shark,
longfin mako, sevengill shark, sixgill shark.
C. In addition to all other licenses and
permits required by law, a valid original commercial state shark permit shall
be annually required for persons commercially taking shark from Louisiana
waters and for persons selling, exchanging, or bartering sharks as required by
law; the valid original permit shall be in immediate possession of the
permittee while engaged in fishing for, possessing, selling, bartering,
trading, or exchanging shark.
D. No
person shall purchase, sell, exchange, barter or attempt to purchase, sell,
exchange, or barter any sharks in excess of any possession limit for which a
state or federal commercial permit was issued.
E.
1. All
persons who do not possess a commercial state shark permit issued by the
Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, and, if applicable, a federal commercial
directed or incidental limited shark permit or federal shark research permit
issued by the National Marine Fisheries Service, are limited to a recreational
possession limit. All persons who do not possess a Louisiana commercial state
shark permit and, if applicable, a federal commercial directed or incidental
limited shark permit or federal shark research permit issued by the National
Marine Fisheries Service under the federal fishery management plan for Atlantic
sharks, shall not sell, barter, trade, exchange or attempt to sell, barter,
trade or exchange any sharks, or possess any sharks in excess of a recreational
possession limit. Sharks taken incidental to menhaden fishing, that are
retained on the vessel as part of the harvest, may be retained and sold only as
a mixed part of the total harvest, and shall not be retained, held, or sold,
purchased, bartered, traded, or exchanged separately. Sharks retained as a
result of menhaden fishing shall not exceed legal bycatch allowances for
menhaden fishing as provided for in
R.S.
56:324.
2. Legally licensed Louisiana
wholesale/retail seafood dealers, retail seafood dealers, restaurants, and
retail grocers are not required to hold a commercial state shark permit in
order to purchase, possess, exchange, barter and sell any quantities of sharks,
so long as they maintain records as required by
R.S.
56:306.5 and
R.S.
56:306.6.
F. Sharks taken under a recreational bag
limit shall not be sold, purchased, exchanged, traded, bartered, or attempted
to be sold, purchased, exchanged, traded, or bartered. A person subject to a
bag limit shall not possess at any time, regardless of the number of trips or
the duration of a trip, any shark in excess of the recreational bag limits or
less than minimum size limits as follows.
1.
All sharks taken under a recreational bag limit within or without Louisiana
waters must be at least 54 inches fork length, except that the minimum size
limit does not apply for Atlantic sharpnose or bonnethead sharks. Male shortfin
mako sharks must be at least 71 inches fork length and female shortfin mako
sharks must be at least 83 inches fork length. No sandbar or silky shark may be
retained under a recreational bag limit.
2. Owners/operators of vessels other than
those taking sharks in compliance with a state or federal commercial permit are
restricted to no more than one shark from either the large coastal, small
coastal or pelagic group per vessel per trip within or without Louisiana
waters, subject to the size limits described in LAC 76:VII.357.F.1, and, in
addition, no person shall possess more than one Atlantic sharpnose shark and
one bonnethead shark per person per trip within or without Louisiana waters,
regardless of the length of a trip. No sandbar or silky shark may be retained
by persons fishing under these limits.
3. All owners/operators of vessels
recreationally fishing for and/or retaining regulated Atlantic highly migratory
species (Atlantic tunas, sharks, swordfish and billfish) in or from the EEZ
must obtain and possess a federal Atlantic highly migratory species angling
permit.
G. Those persons
possessing a federal commercial directed or incidental limited access shark
permit or federal shark research permit issued by the National Marine Fisheries
Service under the federal fishery management plan for Atlantic sharks are
limited to daily take, trip and possession limits as specified in that federal
permit. Regardless of where fishing, a person aboard a vessel for which a
federal shark permit has been issued shall not retain, possess, barter, trade,
or exchange shark of any species group for which the commercial quota has been
reached and the season closed in federal waters.
H.
1. A
vessel that has been issued or possesses a federal commercial directed or
incidental limited access shark permit or federal shark research permit issued
by the National Marine Fisheries Service under the Federal Fishery Management
Plan for Atlantic Sharks shall not possess on any trip, or land from any trip,
or sell, barter, trade, or exchange large coastal species in excess of the
designated trip limits, as established under the Atlantic Highly Migratory
Species Plan and published in the Federal Register, regardless
of where taken. Vessels that have been issued or that possess a federal
commercial directed or incidental limited access shark permit or federal shark
research permit may only possess, sell, barter, trade, or exchange one limit
per vessel per day, where that limit is identified for that permit by NMFS. No
person shall purchase, barter, trade, or exchange shark in excess of the
designated trip limits or from any person who does not possess a commercial
state shark permit or federal commercial directed or incidental limited access
permit or federal shark research permit, if applicable.
2. Persons possessing a commercial state
shark permit but no federal shark permit shall not possess on any one day, or
on any trip, or land from any trip, or sell, barter, trade, or exchange in
excess 45 sharks from the large coastal species group, taken from Louisiana
state waters. Persons possessing a commercial state shark permit shall not
possess any sandbar sharks unless they also have in their name and in
possession a valid federal shark research permit under
50 CFR
635.32(1). If the department
is notified that the National Marine Fisheries Service has made an in-season
adjustment to the daily federal possession limit, the secretary of the
department is authorized to adjust the daily possession limit of sharks from
the large coastal species group. Such an adjustment of the daily possession
limit shall not exceed 55 sharks from the large coastal species group.
3. Wholesale/retail seafood
dealers who receive, purchase, trade for, or barter for Atlantic sharks, taken
from the EEZ, from a fishing vessel must possess a valid federal dealer
permit.
I. A person
aboard a vessel for which a federal commercial directed or incidental limited
access shark permit or federal shark research permit has been issued, or
persons aboard a vessel fishing for or possessing shark in the EEZ shall comply
with all applicable federal regulations.
J. Fins
1.
The practice of "finning," that is, removing only the fins and returning the
remainder of the shark to the sea, is prohibited within and without Louisiana
waters.
2. All sharks possessed by
a recreational fisherman shall be maintained with head and fins intact and
shall not be skinned until set or put on shore.
3. Dealers purchasing sharks from state or
federal waters must report the landings by species, and must specify the total
shark fin numbers, values and weights separately from the weights, values and
numbers of the shark carcasses. If a harvester retains the fins after
offloading from the fishing vessel, the harvester must also be licensed as a
wholesale/retail dealer, and must complete and file a trip ticket that includes
the numbers and weights of fins retained immediately after being offloaded from
the fishing vessel. Later transactions of fins must have documentation
referring to the original trip ticket number for those fins. Such numbers and
weights must be recorded on dealer records in compliance with
R.S.
56:306.5 and
R.S.
56:306.6.
4. Shark fins shall not be possessed aboard a
fishing vessel unless naturally attached to the original shark carcass by at
least some portion of uncut skin.
5. All sharks possessed aboard a commercial
fishing vessel shall have fins including the tail intact and naturally attached
to the shark carcass by at least some portion of uncut skin.
6. It is illegal to replace sharks that are
onboard a fishing vessel for retention with sharks of higher quality or size
that are caught later in a particular trip.
K. Prohibited Species
1. No person shall take, possess, purchase,
sell, barter, exchange or attempt to possess, purchase, sell, barter, or
exchange any of the following species or parts thereof:
a. basking shark-Cetorhinus
maximus ;
b. white shark-
Carcharodon carcharias;
c. bigeye sand tiger-Odontaspis
noronhai ;
d. sand tiger-
Odontaspis taurus;
e. whale shark-Rhincodon
typus ;
f. smalltooth
sawfish-Pristis pectinata ;
g. largetooth sawfish-Pristis
pristis ;
h. Atlantic
angel shark-Squatina dumerili ;
i. Caribbean sharpnose
shark-Rhizoprionodon porosus ;
j. smalltail shark- Carcharhinus
porosus;
k. bignose shark-
Carcharhinus altimus;
l. Caribbean reef shark-Carcharhinus
perezi ;
m. dusky shark-
Carcharhinus obscurus;
n. Galapagos shark- Carcharhinus
galapagensis;
o.
narrowtooth shark- Carcharhinus brachyurus;
p. night shark- Carcharhinus
signatus;
q. bigeye
sixgill shark-Hexanchus vitulus ;
r. bigeye thresher shark-Alopias
superciliosus ;
s. longfin
mako shark-Isurus paucus ;
t. sevengill shark-Heptranchias
perlo ;
u. sixgill
shark-Hexanchus griseus.
2. Notwithstanding other provisions of this
Part, a person may fish for, but not retain, white sharks (Carcharodon
carcharias) with rod and reel only under a catch and release program,
provided the person releases and returns such fish to the sea immediately with
a minimum of injury.
3.
Notwithstanding other provisions of this Part, smalltooth sawfish or largetooth
sawfish may be possessed as authorized by a special scientific and educational
collecting permit issued by the department under
R.S.
56:318, including whatever conditions that
the department may deem necessary to ensure the maintenance and protection of
the species. Nothing herein shall prohibit the possession of smalltooth sawfish
or largetooth sawfish, or parts thereof, that were possessed prior to the
effective date of this rule.
L. No person aboard any vessel shall transfer
or cause the transfer of sharks between vessels on state or federal waters.
Standard menhaden harvesting activities do not constitute transfer of sharks
between vessels at sea.
M. Seasonal
Closures
1. The secretary of the Department
of Wildlife and Fisheries is hereby authorized to close any recreational or
commercial fishery for sharks, within and without Louisiana's territorial
waters, when the secretary is notified by the National Marine Fisheries Service
that the seasonal quota for that species group and fishery has been met. The
closure order shall close the fishery until the date projected for the
reopening of that fishery in the adjacent federal waters. The secretary is also
hereby authorized to modify any such closure order to maintain consistency with
reopening dates in the adjacent federal waters, should the federal closure
dates be modified.
N.
The fishing year for shark shall begin on January 1, 1998 and every January 1
thereafter.
O. No person who,
pursuant to state or federal law, is subject to the jurisdiction of this state
shall violate any federal law, rule or regulation particularly those rules and
regulations enacted pursuant to the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation Act
and published in the Code of Federal Regulations as amended
Title 50 and 15, for sharks and sawfishes while fishing in the EEZ, or possess,
purchase, sell, barter, trade, or exchange sharks and sawfishes within or
without the territorial boundaries of Louisiana in violation of any state or
federal law, rule or regulation particularly those rules and regulations
enacted pursuant to the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation Act and published
in the Code of Federal Regulations as amended Title 50 and 15
law.
AUTHORITY
NOTE: Promulgated in accordance with
R.S.
56:6(10),
R.S.
56:326(E)(2),
R.S.
56:326.1,
R.S.
56:326.3,
R.S.
56:320.2(C), and R.S.
325.2(A).
