Nutria

Nutria Control Program

Mature nutria are very prolific, leading to a high population. Nutria harvest locations are mapped in an effort to compare harvest levels and occurrence of herbivory damage. In 2019, an estimated 14,652 acres coastwide were damaged. Nutria eating vegetation Different stages of damage due to nutria

Nutria

Want to get involved in restoring the coast? Participate in our nutria control program! The nutria, Myocastor coypus, is a large semi-aquatic rodent invasive to Louisiana's coastal wetlands. Nutria are smaller than a beaver but larger than a muskrat and were brought to Louisiana in the 1930's for their fur. Once nutria were released from the fur farms they decimated marshlands by over-grazing. Nutria reproduce very quickly and their population numbers spread across the coast, weakening the coastal wetlands that were already threatened by coastal land loss.

To combat this invasive species, CWPPRA established the Coastwide Nutria Control Program in 2002. The goal of the program is to remove up to 400,000 nutria each trapping season from coastal Louisiana to reduce nutria-induced marsh damage. This program is managed by U.S Department of Agriculture - Natural Resources Conservation Service and the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. To incentive the harvesting of nutria, the Coastwide Nutria Control Program will pay licensed trappers a bounty of $6/nutria tail.

Want to learn more about the Coastwide Nutria Control Program? Check out the project factsheet.

Do you have what it takes to trap nutria and help save the coast? Check out the program website at nutria.com to learn the requirements of becoming a nutria trapper.

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About This Site

The Louisiana Coastal Wetlands Planning Protection and Restoration Act Program web site contains information and links relating to coastal restoration projects in coastal Louisiana. This site is funded by CWPPRA and is maintained by the USGS National Wetlands Research Center.