The working-water calendar
Out here the year runs on seasons — when the oysters open, when the shrimp run, when the waters rest. These dates and times come from the Alabama Marine Resources Division (MRD), the authority that sets them. Seasons change by the Division's announcements, sometimes in the middle of a run — so treat this page as your planning calendar, and always confirm before you harvest. MRD: (251) 861-2882.
NOW OPEN — since Monday, November 2, 2026
🦪 Oyster season — Heron Bay grid is OPEN
Alabama's oyster season opened Monday, November 2, 2026, limited to the Cedar Point East, Cedar Point West, and Heron Bay grids. Harvest hours: Monday–Friday, 7 a.m.–2 p.m. No closing date is set — MRD will close grids based on daily harvest reports, because public-reef populations are still low. Check the open areas inside the grids on the official map before you go.
ON NOW — October 24 through December 31, every year
🐟 Roe mullet season
When the mullet run heavy with roe, Alabama law calls it: from October 24 through December 31, any person using a commercial gill net, trammel net, or other entangling net of 2-inch to under 3-inch mesh to take fish in Alabama waters must hold a roe mullet permit — and anyone holding mullet while working such a net needs the permit too. In the same window it is unlawful to use a seine to take mullet, and carrying mullet aboard with a gill net under the 2-inch minimum mesh is prohibited. (Alabama Administrative Code, Rule 220-3-.03.) We are in the middle of it right now.
Opened Monday, June 1, 2026 — 6 a.m.
🦐 Shrimp season — inside waters
All Alabama inside waters not permanently closed by law opened for shrimp harvest at 6 a.m. on Monday, June 1, 2026 — Mobile Bay, Mississippi Sound, Bon Secour Bay, Perdido Bay, Arnica Bay, Wolf Bay, and Little Lagoon. Inside waters had been temporarily closed from May 1, 2026 ahead of the opening. MRD sets any further openings and closings by announcement as it monitors the shrimp — confirm the current status before you tow.
Mobile Bay special area (May Day Park to Point Clear): closed every year from 6 a.m. August 15 to 6 a.m. October 1. When it is open there, shrimping is cast-net only, non-commercial — 1 gallon per person per day. (Ala. Admin. Code r. 220-3-.01; verified at Outdoor Alabama, Nov 3, 2026.)
Through the year — the rhythm of this coast
- Spring — the inside waters close for shrimping ahead of the summer opening (in 2026: closed May 1, reopened June 1). Bayou La Batre blesses its fleet in the spring, as it has for generations — the year's exact date is announced by the parish and the fleet.
- Summer — shrimp season in full run; the Grand Bay Watermelon Festival brings everybody home in July.
- Fall — the water cools, the oysters fatten, and MRD surveys the reefs. Oyster season opens in the fall when the Division calls it (in 2026: November 2).
- Winter — oyster season runs its course grid by grid until MRD closes it; the bay rests and so do the boats that can.
Annual community dates (the Blessing of the Fleet, the Watermelon Festival) are set by their organizers each year — when a date is announced and verified, it goes on this calendar with its source.
Know a date we're missing? A season announcement, a church supper, a launch day, a cleanup at the ramp — send it to heronbayhoodlums@gmail.com or call (251) 348-3677. Dates get checked before they go up — a wrong date helps nobody.
Let us pray.