William S. Perret

Comparisons were made on the catch rate, sizes of blue crabs (Callinectes sapidus), and bycatch taken in Mississippi Sound waters with crab traps equipped with and without a diamondback terrapin (Malaclemys terrapin) excluder device from April through August 1997. The excluder device consisted of welding rods shaped into a 5 X 10 cm rectangle and fitted into the funnel entrances of a common Gulf Coast crab trap. All blue crabs taken were counted, carapace width measured (mm), and sexed. Bycatch was recorded for each sample. A total of 740 blue crabs were captured, 370 in control traps and...

The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries has conducted long term monitoring for shrimp since the mid 1960's. For the purpose of monitoring shrimp populations, the State was divided into 7 Coastal Study Areas. Each of these Areas represented a distinct hydrological basin within the coastal zone. Data collected from sampling locations within each of these Study Areas was used to set shrimp seasons on a statewide basis. Data collected during the early years of the monitoring program indicated that the State's shrimp resources could be divided into 3 distinct management zones. In...

A total of 122,700 acres ofleased oyster bottoms were adversely affected by the flood waters of 1973; this represented 68 percent of the leased oyster grounds in Louisiana. Additionally, much orthe public natural "Oyster Seed Grounds" were subjected to unusually low salinities, siltation, and vegetation overburden; this resulted in loss of a portion of the 1973 seed oyster crop.

Hydrological and biological parameters are presented for Sabine Lake, Louisiana, before and after the completion of Toledo Bend Reservoir. Salinity and temperature regiments, species composition, and abundance are presented for June 1967 through May 1969. Selected species are compared to decreasing and increasing reservoir discharges. Occurrence and abundance of marine animals are related to altered salinity levels demonstrating possible effects on the total marine animal community. Commercial Penaeid shrimp landings from Sabine Lake for 1962 through 1971 are presented and discussed