Louisiana reference

Louisiana Artificial Reefs

LDWF inshore, nearshore and offshore reef sites, mapped with depths, sizes and structures.

Pick for offshore fishingPiscifun AlinoX 400 baitcaster with bait clicker25% OFFSale $149.99 ~~$199.99~~

Photo of Pearl River: Elisa.rolle, CC BY-SA 4.0

The program

How the LDWF Artificial Reef Program builds habitat

LDWF lists 147 reef sites: 37 inshore in the bays and lakes, 24 nearshore in state waters and 83 offshore, most of the offshore ones retired oil and gas platform jackets donated by energy companies. Each site with three or more published facts has a page with its coordinates, depth and structures.

147reef sites

37inshore

24nearshore

83offshore

LDWF Artificial Reef Program reef layer and material summaries (February 2025), read October 28, 2026.

Inshore

Louisiana inshore reefs in the bays and coastal lakes

Reef	Water or parish	Depth	Size	Structures
Bay Ronquille Reef	Barataria Bay		27 acres	1
Bird Island Reef	Lake Pelto	9-ft	69 acres	1
Bodwin's Point Reef	Lake Pelto			1
Bully Camp 1 Reef	Point Aux Chenes		4 acres	0
Bully Camp 2 Reef	Point Aux Chenes		4 acres	0
Cabbage Reef	Rigolets			1
California Point Reef	Breton Sound	10-ft	50 acres	1
Cypremort Point II Reef	Vermilion Bay	7-ft	40 acres	1
Cypremort Point Reef	Vermilion Bay	6-ft	1 acres	1
East Calcasieu Reef	Calcasieu Lake	8-ft	87 acres	0
Finfish Reef 1	Lake Calcasieu	7-ft	50 acres	1
Grand Banks Reef	Rigolets			1
Hackberry Reef	Barataria Bay			1
Hotel Sid Reef	Grand Isle			1
Independence Island Reef	Barataria Bay	9-ft	50 acres	1
Lake Borgne Shell Pad Reef	Rigolets			1
Lake Front Reef	Lake Pontchartrain	13-ft	4 acres	1
Laketown Reef	Lake Pontchartrain	6-ft	4 acres	1
North Shore Reef	Lake Pontchartrain	14-ft	382 acres	1
North Twin Span Reef	Lake Pontchartrain	10-ft	4 acres	1
Orleans Reef	Lake Pontchartrain	15-ft	411 acres	1
Pelican Island Reef	Timbalier			1
Point Mast Reef	Lake Pelto	9-ft	50 acres	1
Prien Point Reef	Vermilion Bay	2-ft	10 acres	1
Rabbit Island Reef	Cote Blanche Bay	10-ft	50 acres	1
Redfish Pointe Reef	Vermilion Bay	6-ft	50 acres	2
South Shore Reef	Lake Pontchartrain	13-ft	384 acres	3
South Twin Span Reef	Lake Pontchartrain	10-ft	4 acres	1
St. Charles Reef	Lake Pontchartrain	14-ft	411 acres	1
St. John Reef	Lake Pontchartrain	9-ft	10 acres	1
St. Tammany (east) Reef	Lake Pontchartrain	12-ft	410 acres	1
St. Tammany (west) Reef	Lake Pontchartrain	13-ft	410 acres	1
St. Tammany Pier Reef	Lake Pontchartrain	12-ft	1 acres	1
Sweet Lake Reef	Lake Calcasieu	7-ft	50 acres	1
Turner's Bay Island Reef	Lake Calcasieu	2-ft	1 acres	1
West End Pier Reef	Lake Pontchartrain	10-ft	10 acres	1
West Karako Bay Reef	Rigolets			1

Nearshore

Louisiana nearshore reefs in state waters

Reef	Water or parish	Depth	Size	Structures
Bay Marchand 3 Reef	Fourchon	42-ft	10 acres	2
Eugene Island 51 Reef	Morgan City			1
Grand Isle 47 Reef	Grand Isle			1
Grand Isle 9 Reef	Grand Isle	50-ft	665 acres	7
Nickel Reef	Cote Blanche Bay	7-ft	4 acres	1
Rabbit Island Pass Reef	Cote Blanche Bay	4-ft	4 acres	1
Ship Shoal 108 Reef	Cocodrie	19-ft	100 acres	1
Ship Shoal 26 Reef	Cocodrie	8-ft	187 acres	6
Ship Shoal 94 Reef	Cocodrie	28-ft	100 acres	1
South Marsh Island 233 East Reef	Intracoastal City	17-ft	18 acres	1
South Marsh Island 233 West Reef	Intracoastal City	19-ft	18 acres	1
South Timbalier 165-2 Reef	Cocodrie			1
South Timbalier 51 Reef	Cocodrie			1
South Timbalier 77-2 Reef	Cocodrie			1
South Timbalier 86 Reef	Fourchon	97-ft	18 acres	1
Vermilion 119 D Reef	Intracoastal City			1
Vermilion 119 G Reef	Intracoastal City			1
Vermilion 124 Reef	Intracoastal City	70-ft	852 acres	2
Vermilion 144 Reef	Intracoastal City			3
Vermilion 69 Reef	Intracoastal City			1
West Cameron 45 Reef	Cameron			1
West Delta 23 Reef	Venice			1
West Delta 24 Reef	Venice			1
West Delta 35 Reef	Grand Isle			1

Offshore

Louisiana offshore reefs, mostly platform jackets

Reef	Water or parish	Depth	Size	Structures
East Cameron 222 Reef	offshore	122-ft	367 acres	4
East Cameron 254 Reef	offshore	166-ft	367 acres	3
East Cameron 270 Reef	offshore	170-ft	367 acres	5
East Cameron 272 Reef	offshore	182-ft	367 acres	13
East Cameron 273 Reef	offshore	180-ft	367 acres	12
Eugene Island 273 Reef	offshore	189-ft	364 acres	16
Eugene Island 275 Reef	offshore	172-ft	367 acres	4
Eugene Island 276 Reef	offshore	180-ft	207 acres	13
Eugene Island 296 Reef	offshore	215-ft	308 acres	5
Eugene Island 309 Reef	offshore	227-ft	31 acres	1
Eugene Island 313 Reef	offshore	240-ft	179 acres	21
Eugene Island 314 Reef	offshore	230-ft	207 acres	7
Eugene Island 322 Reef	offshore	239-ft	367 acres	7
Eugene Island 324 Reef	offshore	261-ft	367 acres	5
Eugene Island 338 Reef	offshore	261-ft	153 acres	6
Eugene Island 349 Reef	offshore	298-ft	207 acres	1
Eugene Island 365 Reef	offshore	335-ft	367 acres	4
Eugene Island 366 Reef	offshore	335-ft	575 acres	7
Eugene Island 367 Reef	offshore	350-ft	367 acres	5
Eugene Island 371 Reef	offshore	415-ft	207 acres	1
Eugene Island 372 Reef	offshore	415-ft	52 acres	1
Eugene Island 384 Reef	offshore	425-ft	319 acres	5
Garden Banks 189 Reef	offshore	720-ft	92 acres	1
Garden Banks 236 Reef	offshore	595-ft	367 acres	1
Green Canyon 6 Reef	offshore	595-ft	52 acres	1
Main Pass 243 Reef	offshore	200-ft	367 acres	6
Main Pass 293 N Reef	offshore	228-ft	23 acres	2
Main Pass 293 S Reef	offshore	246-ft	184 acres	6
Main Pass 296 Reef	offshore	215-ft	266 acres	4
Main Pass 300 Reef	offshore	193-ft	367 acres	2
Main Pass 305 Reef	offshore	235-ft	367 acres	7
Main Pass 306 N Reef	offshore	254-ft	184 acres	4
Main Pass 306 S Reef	offshore	265-ft	184 acres	5
Mississippi Canyon 148 Reef	offshore	656-ft	92 acres	1
Mississippi Canyon 486 Reef	offshore	570-ft	52 acres	1
Ship Shoal 204 Reef	offshore	105-ft	367 acres	5
Ship Shoal 214 Reef	offshore	104-ft	568 acres	5
Ship Shoal 215 Reef	offshore	106-ft	367 acres	1
Ship Shoal 230 Reef	offshore	120-ft	220 acres	3
Ship Shoal 269 Reef	offshore	205-ft	292 acres	7
Ship Shoal 320 Reef	offshore	330-ft	413 acres	11
Ship Shoal 358 Reef	offshore			7
South Marsh Island 108 Reef	offshore	189-ft	367 acres	6
South Marsh Island 133 Reef	offshore	212-ft	251 acres	19
South Marsh Island 146 Reef	offshore	237-ft	216 acres	22
South Marsh Island 205 Reef	offshore	490-ft	367 acres	3
South Marsh Island 66 Reef	offshore	128-ft	52 acres	2
South Marsh Island 76 Reef	offshore	138-ft	321 acres	1
South Marsh Island 77 Reef	offshore	137-ft	604 acres	5
South Pass 37 Reef	offshore	168-ft		1
South Pass 89 Reef	offshore	394-ft	65 acres	5
South Timbalier 128 Reef	offshore	102-ft	367 acres	7
South Timbalier 130 Reef	offshore	134-ft	342 acres	19
South Timbalier 134 N Reef	offshore	124-ft	367 acres	5
South Timbalier 134 S Reef	offshore	134-ft	367 acres	4
South Timbalier 135 Reef	offshore	118-ft	367 acres	1
South Timbalier 151/152 Reef	offshore	134-ft	704 acres	7
South Timbalier 154 Reef	offshore	260-ft	367 acres	7
South Timbalier 161 Reef	offshore	116-ft	367 acres	6
Vermilion 255 Reef	offshore	157-ft	366 acres	2
Vermilion 262 Reef	offshore	159-ft	367 acres	5
Vermilion 395 Reef	offshore	417-ft	367 acres	1
Vermilion 412 Reef	offshore	460-ft	367 acres	1
West Cameron 586 Reef	offshore	236-ft	367 acres	29
West Cameron 587 Reef	offshore	227-ft	367 acres	4
West Cameron 595 Reef	offshore	244-ft	40 acres	4
West Cameron 608 Reef	offshore	255-ft	367 acres	12
West Cameron 609 Reef	offshore	277-ft	367 acres	6
West Cameron 616/617 Reef	offshore	298-ft	574 acres	16
West Cameron 645 Reef	offshore	432-ft	207 acres	2
West Cameron 648 Reef	offshore	395-ft	207 acres	0
West Cameron 661 Reef	offshore	484-ft	367 acres	0
West Delta 103/104 Reef	offshore	225-ft	634 acres	0
West Delta 117 Reef	offshore	204-ft	332 acres	8
West Delta 133 Reef	offshore	281-ft	207 acres	0
West Delta 134 Reef	offshore	273-ft	260 acres	13
West Delta 69 Reef	offshore	135-ft	23 acres	2
West Delta 70 Reef	offshore	144-ft	239 acres	1
West Delta 75 Reef	offshore	144-ft	367 acres	2
West Delta 76 Reef	offshore	180-ft	367 acres	4
West Delta 89 Reef	offshore	194-ft	367 acres	23
West Delta 94 Reef	offshore	152-ft	367 acres	1
West Delta 95 Reef	offshore	153-ft	367 acres	3

Materials

What LDWF has sunk on Louisiana reefs

Limestone10 structures

Shell6 structures

Reef Balls5 structures

Bridge Rubble3 structures

Concrete Rubble3 structures

SS-296 "A"2 structures

WC-616 "A"2 structures

SS-26-LS-42 structures

EC-222 "A-Drill" (East Half)1 structure

EC-222 "A-Drill" (West Half)1 structure

Partners named most often: Coastal Conservation Association, Apache Corporation, Chevron USA, Inc., Maritech Resources, Inc. and Fieldwood Energy LLC.

Photos

Photographs to go with Louisiana Artificial Reefs

Orleans Parish, Louisiana — Orleans Parish
Photo: Marit & Toomas Hinnosaar, CC BY 2.0

Lake Pontchartrain, Louisiana — Lake Pontchartrain
Photo: Infrogmation, CC BY-SA 4.0

The Rigolets, Louisiana — The Rigolets
Photo: Infrogmation of New Orleans, CC BY 3.0

Black Bayou Lake (Caddo Parish), Louisiana — Black Bayou Lake (Caddo Parish)
Photo: Timothy Holdiness, CC BY-SA 4.0

Answers

Louisiana reef fishing questions

How many reef sites does LDWF list off Louisiana?

147 reef sites in the LDWF list: 37 inshore, 24 nearshore and 83 offshore.

What are most offshore reefs made of?

Platform jackets; the most common structure types are Limestone, Shell and Reef Balls.

Do I need a permit to fish a reef?

South of the LDWF saltwater line an angler 18 or older carries a Basic Fishing License plus a Saltwater License: $17 and $15 for residents, $68 and $60 for nonresidents. Keeping snappers, groupers or amberjacks adds the free ROLP.

Are reef coordinates published?

Yes; each reef page shows the LDWF coordinates, and the map above plots every site.

Which inshore water has the most reefs?

Lake Pontchartrain, with 13 of the inshore sites; the inshore table lists each reef with its water.

Do federal rules apply on offshore reefs?

Seasons and regulations may differ in federal waters off Louisiana's coast. Federally permitted for-hire reef fish vessels must comply with the more restrictive of federal or state reef fish regulations when fishing for reef fish in state waters.

Who donates the reef material?

LDWF names its partners on each site; the most frequent are Coastal Conservation Association, Apache Corporation, Chevron USA, Inc. and Maritech Resources, Inc.

Why does a reef lack a page?

Reefs with fewer than three published facts appear only in the tables and on the map.