Louisiana’s crab trap regulations require every crabber to hold the correct license, build traps to specific escape-ring standards, tag each trap with an owner ID, and follow harvest, nighttime, and seasonal-closure rules enforced by the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries under Title 56 of the Revised Statutes. Recreational and commercial rules diverge on almost every point, so the first thing to sort out is which set applies to you.
Licensing: Recreational vs. Commercial
If you crab recreationally, you need at least a Basic Fishing License ($17 for residents). Add a Saltwater Fishing License if you’re fishing below the freshwater-saltwater line. A Hook and Line Fishing License can stand in for the Basic license if you’re using crab nets or crab lines rather than traps.1Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. Recreational Crab, Oyster, Shrimp
To set traps recreationally, you also need a recreational crab trap gear license: $15 for residents, four times that for non-residents. You may fish no more than ten traps per licensed person.2Justia Law. Louisiana Code RS 56-302.3
Commercial crabbers need a Commercial Fisherman’s License ($96 for residents, $620 for non-residents; $50 for residents 70 or older) plus a separate crab trap gear license.3Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Code RS 56-302.1 – Commercial Fisherman’s License The commercial gear license is not open enrollment. Louisiana placed a moratorium on new commercial crab trap gear licenses in 2005, limiting eligibility to people who held a valid gear license in 2002, 2003, or early 2004.4Justia Law. Louisiana Code RS 56-305.6 New entrants must go through the LDWF’s Fisheries Forward Program, either the apprenticeship path (minimum 200 supervised hours) or a sponsorship path under an existing licensed crabber.5Legal Information Institute. Louisiana Administrative Code Title 76 Section VII-347 – Louisiana Fisheries Forward Program
How a Legal Trap Is Built
Every crab trap must have at least three escape rings on the vertical outside walls. At least two go in the upper chamber flush with the baffle, and at least one goes in the lower chamber no more than one mesh length from the trap floor. All rings must sit no more than one mesh length from the corners.6Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Code RS 56-332 – Crabs
Each ring must have an inside diameter of at least 2⅜ inches (not counting the ring material), be rigid, and be attached with material no thicker than the trap’s wire strands. You cannot block the openings, with one seasonal exception: obstruction is allowed from April 1 through June 30 and from September 1 through October 31. Traps built with wire mesh 2 5/16 inches square or larger are exempt from the escape ring rules altogether.6Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Code RS 56-332 – Crabs
Metal traps and tackle are banned in a few specific waters: public waters north of the Intracoastal Waterway in the Calcasieu River system, and Vermilion Bay from Cypremort Point (one mile offshore) to Blue Point.
Tagging Your Traps
Every trap must carry an owner ID tag, and you supply it yourself. Use either a half-inch stainless steel self-locking tag attached to the center of the trap ceiling or a durable plastic bait-box cover. Your commercial fisherman’s license number or recreational crab trap gear license number must be legibly engraved or embossed on the tag.7Legal Information Institute. Louisiana Administrative Code Title 76 Section VII-345 An untagged trap is an easy citation, and during derelict trap cleanup periods, unmarked traps are treated as abandoned and hauled out.
What You Can Keep
Louisiana prohibits keeping or selling immature female crabs and adult females in berry stage (carrying eggs or young attached to the abdomen). Any you catch must go back in the water immediately. The only exception is immature females in the premolt stage held or sold for soft-shell crab processing.6Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Code RS 56-332 – Crabs
Commercial harvesters have a narrow incidental allowance: no more than 5% immature females and no more than 2% berry-stage crabs in total possession. Enforcement agents check by pulling a random 50-crab sample from each crate; if more than 5% of the sample fails, the whole crate is a violation. Crabs still in a work box aboard the vessel while you’re actively fishing are not subject to these limits.6Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Code RS 56-332 – Crabs
Size limits split the two groups. Commercial crabs must measure at least five inches across the upper shell, point to point.8Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Code RS 56-326 There is no minimum size for recreational blue crabs, stone crabs, or stone crab claws.1Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. Recreational Crab, Oyster, Shrimp
Nighttime Rule
You cannot bait, tend, check, or remove crab traps, lines, buoys, or markers from public waters between one-half hour after sunset and one-half hour before sunrise. Violating this is a class four violation, which sits well above routine crabbing infractions on the penalty scale.6Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Code RS 56-332 – Crabs
Seasonal Closures and Derelict Traps
Traps no longer in use must be pulled from the water and disposed of or stored. The Derelict Crab Trap Removal Program, established in 2004 and funded partly by crab license sales, lets the Wildlife and Fisheries Commission close specific water bodies so abandoned traps can be cleared.9Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. Derelict Crab Trap Removal
Two closure windows are authorized each year: up to 16 consecutive days between February 1 and March 31, and up to 14 consecutive days that include the opening day of the spring inshore shrimp season. Any trap left in a closed area during those periods is deemed abandoned and can be removed.9Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. Derelict Crab Trap Removal
For 2026, the LDWF has scheduled five basin closures:
- Pontchartrain Basin (east of the Causeway): February 2–15, 2026
- Vermilion-Teche Basin (all waters east of Marsh Island): February 2–15, 2026
- Calcasieu Basin (between the Intracoastal Waterway and Hackberry): February 2–15, 2026
- Barataria Basin (between Myrtle Grove and the Freeport Sulphur Canal): February 9–22, 2026
- Terrebonne Basin (south of Pointe Aux Chenes WMA): February 16–March 1, 2026
If your traps are in any of these areas, pull them before the closure begins.9Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. Derelict Crab Trap Removal
Penalties
For sport fishing violations where no other penalty is specified, a first offense brings a fine of $25 to $100, 10 to 60 days in jail, or both. A second or later conviction for the same offense raises the range to $100–$300, 30 to 90 days, or both, and the court may order the tackle used in the violation disposed of. Courts can also suspend or revoke your fishing license and all fishing privileges for up to one year past the license’s expiration.10Justia Law. Louisiana Code RS 56-336
Commercial crabbers caught with more than twice the allowed percentage of undersize crabs face a class four violation with mandatory, escalating gear license suspensions:
- First conviction: gear license voided; barred from reapplying for six months.
- Second conviction within five years: gear license voided; barred from reapplying for twelve months.
- Third conviction within five years: gear license voided permanently.
These suspensions are mandatory; a court cannot soften them. Fishing crab traps during a suspension is a class six violation and results in a lifetime bar from ever holding a crab trap gear license again.8Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Code RS 56-326 With the moratorium already limiting who can hold a commercial gear license, losing one is effectively permanent.