Shell Keys National Wildlife Refuge

Shell Keys National Wildlife Refuge, in Iberia Parish, Louisiana, is part of the Southwest Louisiana National Wildlife Refuge Complex (Complex), which also includes the Cameron Prairie, Lacassine, and Sabine Refuges. The 8-acre refuge is located in the offshore waters of the Louisiana Gulf Coast, west of the Atchafalaya River Delta and south of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries’ Marsh Island Refuge. Shell Keys NWR was established on August 17, 1907, by Executive Order 682, to serve as a reserve and breeding ground for native birds. The refuge is located within the Service’s Lower Mississippi River Ecosystem in the Gulf of Mexico.

Shell Keys NWR is one of the oldest refuges in the National Wildlife Refuge System. Its boundary was and still is rather loosely described as a small group of unsurveyed islets located in the Gulf of Mexico about three and one-half miles south of Marsh Island, Louisiana, and approximately in latitude 29 degrees 26 minutes north, longitude 91 degrees 51 minutes west from Greenwich. The boundary of the refuge has been interpreted to be those areas in this vicinity that are above mean high tide.

Shell Keys NWR is a small group of islands that is subject to shell deposits and erosion, so the actual acreage above mean high water may be different at this time. How these islands change and move may affect ownership of that area lying above mean high water. Under certain circumstances, accreted areas above mean high water may belong to the State of Louisiana.

For a number of years, there has been only one islet at this location. This islet is composed almost entirely of shell fragments. It is extremely dynamic and builds or recedes with passing storms. Vegetation is almost entirely lacking. Species known to nest here include royal terns, sandwich terns, black skimmers, and laughing gulls. In addition, the islet is used at various times as a loafing area by white pelicans, brown pelicans, and various other species of terns and gulls.

Hurricanes and storms have eroded the island to such an extent that no known nesting has occurred since 1992. Public access to the refuge is restricted due to its remoteness and sole accessibility by boat.