Louisiana hunters will be able to catch up to 10,000 more alligators this fall as part of a new recreational season, another milestone in the stunning population resurgence of the ancient reptiles stalking the state’s wetlands.
The new law passed by the Legislature and signed last week establishes the state’s first recreational season, separate from the existing three-month commercial period where licensed hunters can harvest alligators on designated lands and water bodies. All lands and water bodies statewide will be available for recreational hunting, excluding those enrolled in the commercial program.
The sponsor of the bill, state Sen. Robert Allain, R-Franklin, called the law “the first of its kind in Louisiana” and an important step to expand opportunities for recreational hunters.
“We’re offering a new way to address nuisance or overabundant alligators while still maintaining our important commercial alligator industry and controlled harvest limits,” Allain, a commercial alligator hunter, said.
The recreational program will run throughout October, starting this year. Certified hunters ages 16 and older will be eligible to enter the lottery, which will give 5,000 winners two tags each to harvest alligators in the region where they applied. While all parishes will be included, more tags will be allotted in the central and northeast portions of the state than the coastal zones, where the majority of the commercial harvest takes place.
Jeb Linscombe, the alligator programs manager at the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, noted that recreational hunters are able to enter the existing lottery, though the licenses and tags themselves are considered commercial.
An alligator is shot and tagged on the first day of alligator hunting season near Westwego, La., Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023. (Photo by Sophia Germer, NOLA.com, The Times-Picayune)
The areas eligible under the commercial program are much narrower than the those allowed under the new program. The majority of the commercial season takes place in Louisiana’s coastal zone, Linscombe said, and 80% of it is on privately owned land.
The new statewide recreational program is “completely separate,” Linscombe said. It applies to all land and water bodies that are not currently encompassed in the commercial system.
“If you win the lottery, you can go anywhere so long as you can get permission to hunt that property,” said Linscombe.
A gator explosion
Louisiana has seen a drastic turnaround in the population of its wild alligators, which were once listed under the Endangered Species Act. Habitat loss along Louisiana’s eroding coastline along with unregulated hunting drove the declines, which culminated with a total ban on hunting from 1962 to 1972.
Since the state launched its alligator management program over 50 years ago, Louisiana’s wild alligator population has soared from less than 100,000 to more than 3 million, according to the wildlife and fisheries agency. There are also nearly one million alligators on farms.
During the closed seasons in the 1960s and 70s, the state wildlife agency developed a commercial hunting program for landowners who would in exchange protect the coastal wetland habitat that alligators call home. The program also allows wildlife officials to more closely track alligator populations in those areas and the level of hunting that can be sustained.
The wildlife department estimates that the program, along with the farm-raised alligator industry, generates more than $250 million each year in economic activity.
Allain called the resurgence of the species the “greatest conservation story in America.” Aspects of the program have been used for the management of crocodilian species around the world, according to the state agency.
Increasing hunting opportunities for Louisianans has also been a goal of the wildlife department under the current administration, Tyler Bosworth, the secretary of the agency, told legislators in March. This includes expanding hunting opportunities to the black-bellied whistling duck and black bears, as well as gaining state control of amberjack season.
An alligator is shot and tagged on the first day of alligator hunting season near Westwego, La., Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023. (Photo by Sophia Germer, NOLA.com, The Times-Picayune)
Gov. Jeff Landry also hosts his own alligator hunt each year, a major political fundraising event that has drawn the likes of Donald Trump Jr. and Charlie Kirk.
Allain said the legislation faced little pushback, and passed without any ‘no’ votes. Linscombe noted that some landowners expressed concerns about trespassing, but that the department has pledged to work with them.
New rules
Last year, the commercial hunt yielded at least 38,000 alligators, Linscombe said. The addition of 10,000 recreational tags is unlikely to translate to another 10,000 harvested animals.
“You never harvest everything you offer,” Linscombe said.
The wildlife agency prohibits the sale of all parts of the recreationally harvested alligators, including hides and meat. Hunters can catch the alligators by hook and line or snatch hook only. Pole hunting and free shooting are not allowed.
Rare albino alligators are also prohibited from the harvest, and hunting one could result in a fine of more than $10,000 or imprisonment for up to a year.
