[Ray]

The public meeting to discuss the future of land based
cast netting for shrimp at Sabine National Wildlife
Refuge has been postponed from this month until April 2011.
Interest in this issue has died down dramatically since
the initial temporary closure was implemented a little
more than a month ago. The future of land based cast netting
at Sabine National Wildlife Refuge is dependent
upon the public’s participation in addressing the problems
associated with it and how to solve them.
Service staff believes that there will be more participation
in the meeting if it is held during the spring, prior
to the opening of the inshore brown shrimp season.
Cast netting for shrimp will remain temporarily
closed until the resulting public comments from that
meeting are compiled and addressed by U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service staff. All citizens interested in
attending this public meeting are encouraged to call the
Southwest Louisiana National Wildlife Refuge
Complex headquarters at 598-2216 and ask to be
placed on the public meeting announcement list.