Incident occurred in Lake Pontchartrain, LDWF says
A 62-year-old Metairie man was ticketed last week by enforcement agents with the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries for allegedly shrimping in Lake Pontchartrain without a turtle excluder device.
Roland Mollere Jr. was issued a citation and his net was seized in relation to the violation on Nov. 22, according to a news release.
Trawling without a TED brings a $100 to $350 fine and up to 60 days in jail, according to the release.
Shrimpers need to have an approved TED installed in each net that is rigged for fishing. However, certain exemptions to these requirements may apply (for some vessels without power or mechanical means of net retrieval, test trawls and skimmer and butterfly nets in compliance with tow time restrictions).
Skimmer and butterfly nets are exempt from TED use, but federal regulations require skimmer and butterfly net fishermen to limit tow times if they do not use TEDs.
The tow time is measured from the time the cod-end of the net enters the water until it is removed from the water. Maximum tow times are 55 minutes from April 1 – Oct. 31 and increase to 75 minutes from Nov. 1 – March 31, the release states.
