BATON ROUGE (AP) — Louisiana wildlife and fisheries regulators have reopened state waters in the Gulf of Mexico that were previously closed because of oiling from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
The Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, in a news release Tuesday, said the 100-yard buffer from any shoreline in a portion of the upper Barataria Basin centered near Bay Jimmy and Bay Batiste will reopen to all commercial and recreational fishing. Before the announcement, those waters were closed to all commercial and recreational fishing except for recreational and charter boat angling.
The department says it will continue monitoring conditions to determine whether the area requires new closures.
Reports of oil, tarballs or tar mats should be reported to the National Response Center at 1-800-424-8802 and Louisiana State Police at 1-877-925-6595.
