When this year's Nutria hunting season begins November 20, there are incentives being offered to boost the harvesting of the destructive pest.
The bounty on every tail turned in to the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries is going up from five-to-six dollars. According to LDWF, last year 223,155 nutria tails worth $1,115,775 in incentive payments were collected from 241 licensed hunters.
Nutria, basically a big rat, burrow into canals and wetlands areas. They've torn up, damaged or destroyed more than 16-thousand acres of wetlands. Controlling the pest means hunting and eradication of nutria populations.
The Coastwide Nutria Control Program looks to remove 400-thousand nutria each year from marshes to slow down damage and degradation and allow natural restoration.
There is a big market for Nutria fur and meat. Click here for more information on the Nutria fur industry. Click here for more information on Nutria meat for human consumption, including instructions for preparation and recipes!