The commissioner of wildlife and fisheries is authorized to acquire by lease, purchase, or expropriation, from the owners thereof, any system or systems of canals and locks, or any canal or lock located in the coastal parishes of the state bordering the Gulf of Mexico, useful to vessels engaged in the sea food industries of this state, and to cause such canals and locks to be operated so that the same shall be open to free navigation by all vessels.
La. Navigation and Shipping § 34:341