Basic Commercial Fishing Regulations - Gulf States Marine ...

Saltwater - Freshwater Line
For complete requirements regarding the taking of
fish in federal waters obtain a Commercial Fishing
Regulations for Gulf of Mexico Federal Waters
pamphlet from the Gulf of Mexico Fishery
Management Council:
2203 N. Lois Avenue, Suite 1100
Tampa, FL 33607
Phone: 813-348-1630.
E-mail: gulfcouncil@gulfcouncil.org.
Web: www.gulfcouncil.org
For the purposes of regulating certain fisheries the
legislature recognized the historic division of the state
into saltwater and freshwater areas based on the variations
of flora and fauna found within these two divisions.
The legislature further recognized that the exact
line of demarcation cannot be precisely located due to
constant changes in water salinity caused by winds,
tides, and rains. The legislature therefore legally
defined the freshwater and saltwater areas by describing
a line from the Texas state line, easterly to the
Mississippi state line. The areas south of the described
line, plus a number of saltwater lakes and waterways,
were designated as saltwater areas and all other areas
north of the described line were designated as freshwater
areas.
Louisiana Saltwater Line Definition
Title 56, Section 322 - The Intracoastal waterway
from the Texas-Louisiana boundary to its junction
with Louisiana Highway 27 at Gibbstown, and then
south to Louisiana Highway 82 and then east to its
junction with the Intracoastal Waterway at Forked
Island, the Intracoastal Waterway from Forked Island
to Bayou Barataria to the Harvey Canal, the Harvey
Canal to the Mississippi River, the Mississippi River
to the Industrial Canal, the Industrial Canal to the
Intracoastal Waterway, the Intracoastal Waterway to
the Rigolets in Orleans Parish to the Louisville &
Nashville Railroad bridge, the Louisville & Nashville
Railroad right-of-way from the Orleans Parish line to
the Mississippi state line.
Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the
contrary, the waters of the Intracoastal Waterway in
Orleans Parish from the overhead power lines at the
Interharbor Navigation Canal east to the Rigolets shall
be considered both salt and fresh water for the purposes
of authorizing the taking or possessing fish or
the use or possession of gear. Commercial fishing
operations in these waters shall not interfere with normal
commercial traffic.
The areas south of the above described line, plus
the saltwater lakes known as Sabine Lake, Calcasieu
Lake, including that portion of the Calcasieu Ship
Channel which actually adjoins Calcasieu Lake, West
and East Pass of the Calcasieu River and Oyster Bayou
in Cameron Parish, Lake Maurepas, Lake Pontchartrain,
Lake St. Catherine, Chef Menteur Pass (except that
seven-tenths of a mile section from Bayou Sauvage
south to the Intercoastal Waterway), the Rigolets,
Unknown Pass, Pass Manchac, and that portion of the
Calcasieu Ship Channel from the Intracoastal Waterway
south to the Gulf of Mexico, shall be designated as
saltwater areas.
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