La. Admin. Code tit. 76 § V-123

Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 9, September 20, 2024

Section V-123 - Coastwide Nutria Control Program

A. The Department of Wildlife and Fisheries does hereby establish regulations governing participation in the Coastwide Nutria Control Program. The administrative responsibility for this program shall rest with the Department Secretary; the Assistant Secretary, Office of Wildlife; and the Fur and Refuge Division.

1. The Coastwide Nutria Control Program objective is to provide economic incentive, through an incentive payment to participants, to encourage the harvest of up to 400,000 nutria annually from coastal Louisiana. The incentive payment shall be the amount set by the Coastal Wetlands Planning, Protection and Restoration Act (CWPPRA) Task Force. For the purpose of this program, coastal Louisiana is bounded on the north by Interstate 10 from the Louisiana-Texas line to Baton Rouge, Interstate 12 from Baton Rouge to Slidell, and Interstate 10 to the Louisiana-Mississippi line.

2. Participant Application Process

a. Participants must acquire a valid Louisiana trapping license.

b. Participants must submit a completed nutria control program participant application to the department or its contractor.

c. To be considered complete, the application must contain the following information:

i. name;

ii. address;

iii. telephone number;

iv. Social Security number, and trapping license number of applicant;

v. tax receipt and a description of property to be trapped/hunted (acres, parish, township, range, section);

vi. name, address, and telephone number of landowner (private or public);

vii. signature of participant; and

viii. signature of landowner or designated representative indicating permission to hunt or trap nutria on the described property.

d. For applications determined to be complete and valid, the participant will be notified by mail that his/her registration is finalized and a nutria control program registration number will be issued.

e. The participant must indicate if an assistant will be delivering tails on his behalf to a collection center and the participant must provide the name of the assistant(s) on the application.

f. Applications submitted to the department or its contractor by October 1 shall be processed by the opening of trapping season. Applications submitted to the department or its contractor after October 1 shall be processed in the order received.

g. Applications listing only waterbodies, without signature of an adjacent landowner or designated representative, shall be considered incomplete.

h. Applications determined to be incomplete or invalid will be returned to the applicant with an explanation as to why registration could not be finalized.

3. Harvest of Nutria

a. Participants must possess a valid trapping license and a nutria control program registration number.

b. Only nutria harvested during the open trapping season, from coastal Louisiana and taken from property permitted can be included in this program.

c. Nutria may be taken by any legal method except that if taken with a shotgun, steel shot must be used.

d. Participants are required to remove carcasses from the trapping/hunting area or if carcasses are not sold whole, they must be placed in such a manner as to prohibit feeding on the carcasses by birds, including southern bald eagles. Carcasses may be buried, placed in heavy overhead vegetation or concealed by any other means necessary to prevent consumption by birds.

4. Collection of Nutria Tails for Payment

a. Collection stations will be established across coastal Louisiana by the department or its contractor.

b. Evidence of nutria harvested shall be in the form of delivering severed nutria tails to a collection station during a designated period. Collections will begin on or about November 20. Specific dates and times of collections will be established and advertised for each station.

c. Participant or a designated assistant must present the nutria control registration number and proper identification to the department contractor.

d. Participant or designated assistant shall present to the department contractor only fresh or well-preserved (iced, frozen, salted) nutria tails in a manner that allows counting of individual tails (e.g., tails cannot be frozen together in a block). Only whole tails, greater than 7 inches in length will be accepted.

e. Participant shall declare parish, section, township, and range in coastal Louisiana where animals were taken and indicate method of take and carcass use. Tails from animals taken from outside of the participants permitted property shall not qualify for payment in this program.

f. Participant shall sign the receipt/voucher provided by the department contractor to acknowledge number of tails presented and accuracy of information provided.

5. Violation of any part of these regulations is a Class 2 violation and conviction may result in disqualification from the program.

La. Admin. Code tit. 76, § V-123

Promulgated by the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, Wildlife and Fisheries Commission, LR 28:2205 (October 2002), amended LR 33:297 (February 2007).

AUTHORITY NOTE: Promulgated in accordance with R.S. 56:115.