HB721 • 2026

SEAFOOD: Provides relative to shrimp harvesting

Enacted

This bill passed the Legislature and reached final enactment based on the latest official action.

Sponsor: Timothy P. Kerner
Last action: 2026-05-22
Official status: Signed by the Governor - Act 314
Effective date: Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The official source material does not provide specific details on how earlier start times will affect other fishing activities or enforcement and penalties, leaving these points as unknowns.

Shrimp Harvesting Rules

This act changes the rules for shrimp harvesting by allowing earlier morning shrimping and creating an exception to nighttime restrictions in certain areas.

What This Bill Does

Allows licensed commercial shrimp harvesters to start trawling at 5:30 a.m. during open seasons in Vermilion Bay, East Cote Blanche Bay, and West Cote Blanche Bay.
Creates an exception to the nighttime ban on shrimping for Southwest Pass at Marsh Island south of a specific line.

Who It Names or Affects

Licensed commercial shrimp harvesters in Louisiana.

Terms To Know

Night shrimping: Taking shrimp after sunset and before sunrise.
Inside waters: The inland parts of bays or rivers, not the open sea.

Limits and Unknowns

Does not specify how earlier start times will affect other fishing activities.
Does not address changes to enforcement or penalties for breaking these rules.

Bill History

2026-05-22 H
Effective date: 08/01/2026.
2026-05-22 H
Signed by the Governor. Becomes Act No. 314.
2026-05-19 H
Sent to the Governor for executive approval.
2026-05-18 S
Signed by the President of the Senate.
2026-05-18 H
Enrolled and signed by the Speaker of the House.
2026-05-13 H
Received from the Senate without amendments.
2026-05-13 S
Rules suspended. Read by title, passed by a vote of 36 yeas and 0 nays, and ordered returned to the House. Motion to reconsider tabled.
2026-05-05 S
Reported without Legislative Bureau amendments. Read by title and passed to third reading and final passage.
2026-05-04 S
Read by title and referred to the Legislative Bureau.
2026-04-29 S
Reported favorably.
2026-04-01 S
Read second time by title and referred to the Committee on Natural Resources.
2026-03-31 S
Received in the Senate. Rules suspended. Read first time by title and placed on the Calendar for a second reading.
2026-03-31 H
Read third time by title, roll called on final passage, yeas 103, nays 0. Finally passed, title adopted, ordered to the Senate.
2026-03-30 H
Scheduled for floor debate on 03/31/2026.
2026-03-26 H
Read by title, ordered engrossed, passed to 3rd reading.
2026-03-25 H
Reported favorably (15-0-1).
2026-03-09 H
Read by title, under the rules, referred to the Committee on Natural Resources and Environment.
2026-02-27 H
First appeared in the Interim Calendar on 2/27/2026.
2026-02-27 H
Under the rules, provisionally referred to the Committee on Natural Resources and Environment.
2026-02-27 H
Prefiled.

Official Summary Text

SEAFOOD: Provides relative to shrimp harvesting

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text

ENROLLED
2026 Regular Session
HOUSE BILL NO. 721
BY REPRESENTATIVES KERNER AND CHASSION
1 AN ACT
2 To amend and reenact R.S. 56:499.4, relative to commercial shrimping; to create an
3 exception to the prohibition on night shrimping in inside waters of the state; to allow
4 commercial shrimping in certain inside waters beginning at 5:30 a.m.; and to provide
5 for related matters.
6 Be it enacted by the Legislature of Louisiana:
7 Section 1. R.S. 56:499.4 is hereby amended and reenacted to read as follows:
8 §499.4. Night shrimping; inside waters; Vermilion Bay; East and West Cote
9 Blanche Bays; Atchafalaya Bay; exceptions; prohibition
10 A. No person shall take shrimp at night, from one-half hour after official
11 sunset until one-half hour before official sunrise, from the inside waters of Vermilion
12 Bay, West Cote Blanche Bay, East Cote Blanche Bay, and Atchafalaya Bay, from
13 the western shore of Vermilion Bay to the western shore of the Atchafalaya River
14 and the Atchafalaya River Ship Channel out to Eugene Island, as described by the
15 inside-outside line in R.S. 56:495, except that night shrimping shall be allowed in the
16 waters of Southwest Pass at Marsh Island south of a line drawn from the following
17 points: the most southeastward point of Southwest Pass at 29 degrees 36 minutes 47
18 seconds north latitude, 92 degrees 00 minutes 32 seconds west longitude east
19 southeast to the Green Light Channel Marker Number 21 at 29 degrees 36 minutes
20 44 seconds north latitude, 92 degrees 00 minutes 21 seconds west longitude; thence
21 northeast to a point located at 29 degrees 37 minutes 34 seconds north latitude, 91
22 degrees 59 minutes 36 seconds west longitude; thence southeast to the western shore
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CODING: Words in struck through type are deletions from existing law; words underscored
are additions.
HB NO. 721 ENROLLED
1 of Big Charles Bayou at 29 degrees 36 minutes 43 seconds north latitude, 91 degrees
2 59 minutes 17 seconds west longitude.
3 B. Notwithstanding Subsection A of this Section, during any open shrimp
4 season, licensed commercial shrimp harvesters may begin trawling in Vermilion
5 Bay, East Cote Blanche Bay, and West Cote Blanche Bay at 5:30 a.m.
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF LOUISIANA
APPROVED:
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CODING: Words in struck through type are deletions from existing law; words underscored
are additions.