Alligator Harvest

(New Orleans, Louisiana) Indications are that the 2006 Louisiana alligator season will be bountiful.

From HoumaToday.com:

Final numbers are still being tallied, but Ruth Elsey, biologist manager for the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, said the count should show between 95 and 98 percent of the harvest quota of 32,000 reached.

"Most people did well; prices were strong," Elsey said.

This year's season ran from Sept. 6 through Oct. 6.

Prices for a harvested alligator were reported as high as $35 to $36 per foot, considered good by hunters and wildlife officials. The total value of this year's harvest is still being calculated. But last year, meat and hides were valued by the department at $40 million across Louisiana.

Heh.