More Port Sulphur, Empire waters west of river closed to fishing

‘We feel they are safe,’ official says

Even more waters out of Port Sulphur and Empire have been closed to all fishing as a result of the Deepwater Horizon BP oil spill, leaving only a small portion of the area’s marsh west of the Mississippi River remaining open, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries reported this afternoon (June 8).

Closed at 4:43 p.m. were inshore waters between 29 degrees, 30 minutes, 00 seconds north latitude and 29 degrees, 20 minutes, 00 seconds north latitude from the western shore of the Empire Canal westward to the western shoreline of Grand Bayou.

Click here to see the LDWF detailed map of the closures affecting the Barataria Basin. The map of all current state closures is here.

This most-recent action, which came in response to “reports of oil,” ends fishing in Adams Bay west of Empire, Bay de la Cheniere, Bay Lanaux and the associated marshes along the western bank of the Mississippi River.

All other closures remain in place.