Since July 1, 2022, every escape ring on a Louisiana crab trap has to sit within one mesh length of a corner. It's the rule that turns a trap that was legal in 2021 into a $950 ticket, and a lot of traps built before it are still in the water.
Where it came from
Senate Bill 65 in the 2019 session (Act 48) rewrote R.S. 56:332(K), the escape ring section. The 2017 rules had already moved Louisiana to three rings at 2-3/8" with two in the upper chamber flush with the baffle. The 2019 act added two things: the lower-chamber ring could sit within a mesh of the floor rather than flush, and, with a three-year phase-in to let fishermen rebuild traps on the normal cycle, every ring had to be within a mesh of a corner.
Why corners
Sub-legal crabs don't wander a trap looking for a hole. They work the edges and pile up in corners, especially at the baffle line in the upper chamber and on the floor in the lower. A ring in the middle of a panel is a ring most small crabs never find. A ring in the corner is where they already are. LDWF's position is that corner placement makes the same three rings release more undersized crabs without changing the count.
What compliant looks like
- Three rings minimum, 2-3/8" inside diameter measured inside the ring material
- Two in the upper chamber on vertical outside walls, flush with the baffle, each within one mesh of a corner
- One in the lower chamber on a vertical outside wall, within one mesh of the floor and within one mesh of a corner
- Rigid rings, attached with material no heavier than the trap wire
- Open, except during the April 1 to June 30 and September 1 to October 31 peeler windows
"One mesh" is the trap's own mesh: on standard 1-1/2" hex wire that's about an inch and a half of slack from the corner post. It is not "somewhere near the end."
What fails
Rings centered on a panel. Rings lashed with cord thicker than the wire. A lower ring two meshes up. Two rings in the upper chamber that are both flush with the baffle but neither near a corner. Plugs left in after June 30. Any of these is a class four violation.
Rebuilding
Moving rings on an existing trap means cutting the old ring out and patching the hole, which on coated wire is a rust point. Most fishermen rebuild the trap at the normal replacement interval instead. If you're building new, the full spec top to bottom is on the Louisiana rigging guide.
We should say plainly: we don't currently sell a 2-3/8" ring. Ours is 2-5/16", legal in Maryland and Alabama, not here. If enough Louisiana fishermen ask, we'll cut the tool. Tell us.