After the recent freezing temperatures, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) has received numerous reports of fish kills.
Once travel advisories were lifted, LDWF field biologists began investigating coastal areas on January 24, 2025, for dead fish resulting from the historically cold weather and continue with those field efforts. Water temperatures in a large portion of the state's coastal areas quickly fell below critical temperatures (40 degrees F) for saltwater species such as Spotted Seatrout and Red Drum for several days, and fish kills have been observed and documented.
Since January 24, LDWF has investigated 71 fish kills statewide while documenting coastwide observations in each major basin.
The collected data indicates fish mortality occurred coastwide with concentrations of kills occurring in some areas where fish likely did not have time to leave shallower areas or have access to deep enough, slightly warmer, water readily available in which to take refuge.
While kills were spread throughout our coast, not all coastal areas were affected and not all to the same level.
From preliminary observations, the highest levels of Spotted Seatrout and Black Drum mortalities have been observed in the Terrebonne/Timbalier Basin, and the highest Red Drum and Sheepshead mortalities have been observed in the Barataria Basin. In general, the highest overall mortalities of a variety of species have been observed in the coastal marshes between the Mississippi and Atchafalaya Rivers, except for Striped Mullet, which had high observed mortality east of the Mississippi River.
When compared to the freeze of late December 1989, where water temperatures remained below 32° F for about 100 hours near Grand Isle, LA, this freeze was not as long in duration. While some shallow marsh ponds saw ice form around the edges in this event, the freeze of 1989 resulted in ice forming on Lake Pontchartrain and other larger coastal water bodies, which was not the case with this event.
LDWF biologists will continue to document dead fish encountered and investigate fish kills relayed to them by the public in order to attempt to quantify the impacts of this freeze. While freezes are naturally occurring events and do result in fish kills, a cold weather event of the magnitude that occurred recently could have a noticeable impact on fish populations that may not be evident for a year or more after the event.
At this time, LDWF is not anticipating the need for any management or regulatory changes as a result of this event.
State officials encourage the public to notify LDWF of any fish kills by calling 1-800-442-2511. LDWF would also like to remind the public that creel and size limits remain in effect, as well as legal methods of take, and that harvesting fish beyond those regulations is illegal.
For more information about fish kills, visit https://www.wlf.louisiana.gov/page/fish-kills.
