Economic Elements of Commercial Crabbing in Lake Pontchartrain and Lake Borgne

摘要

Over the past three decades, the landings and prices of the commercial blue crab in Louisiana have increased until the blue crab is now the state's third largest food fishery. During this period of growth, significant changes took place within the fishery, though data on landings, price, catch by gear, and numbers of fishermen indicate that these changes were normal. An important change was the major loss in production ranking by Lake Pontchartrain and Lake Borgne, major crab-producing areas adjacent to New Orleans. This report will provide an economic study of this area.