Red Snapper Fishing Ban Starts
They want to continue this closes certain area's completely. The recreational fisherman always suffers.
Red Snapper Fishing Ban Starts
In Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas, a new federal rule has fishermen angry. A ban on fishing for red snapper—one of the most popular saltwater fish starts Jan. 4.
Federal agencies and environmental groups
say that in the south Atlantic, red snapper numbers are dwindling. So along with the ban, officials also propose temporarily closing a huge area to virtually all fishing.
To people who don't fish or don't live in the Southeast, it might seem like a lot of fuss over one species. But in fishing communities like St. Augustine, Fla., the red snapper is more than just a fish.
It's the reason thousands of anglers visit each year. The new rules are a blow to coastal communities around the Southeast, like St. Augustine, that depend on recreational fishing.
Robert Johnson is a charter boat captain who has fished for red snapper off the eastern coast of Florida for nearly 30 years. When his charter business slows down, he also fishes for them commercially.
According to Johnson, the average snapper measures around 2 feet long and weighs between 6 and 7 pounds. But he says he has caught fish that weigh up to 30 pounds.
Red snapper can live to 50 years old and grow to 20 pounds or more. But fish that old — and big — are very rare — a clear indication, scientists say, of how much they've been overfished.
S.C. anglers oppose federal proposal to close red snapper fisheries
One of the problems is that legislation is passed without debates. They try to pass things without being noticed
Fishing-rule protest growing
S.C. anglers oppose federal proposal to close red snapper fisheries
BY BO PETERSEN AND YVONNE WENGER
A state protest against closing the ocean bottom to fishing is gaining line in the Legislature as local anglers rally to force regulators to change a federal law.
The S.C. Senate on Thursday adopted a resolution to officially oppose the proposed federal law that would close the red snapper fisheries along the state coastline. The law would essentially end nearly all bottom fishing offshore because the popular snapper is a bottom-dwelling fish.
The Legislature's resolution was approved by voice vote without a debate.
The bill now goes to the House for action, where similar legislation is pending.
The move is in reaction to a pending action by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council, part of a new federal law that requires regional councils to end overfishing. The council regulates fishing in federal waters here; state laws tend to track federal laws.
Regulators say the move is needed to help restore a fish population considered to be in a long-term decline; anglers say not enough research has been done on a species that is widely caught.
The legislative action comes as nearly 1,000 Lowcountry anglers plan to take part in a rally in Washington, D.C., this month that they hope will draw public attention to the problem. A closure would put commercial captains all but out of business, they say, and curtail recreational fishing. That would disrupt saltwater fishing that is championed as a $600 million-per-year industry in South Carolina alone.
Sen. Paul Campbell, R-Berkeley, said he supported the resolution because the consequences would be too much when the impact on tourism and the money invested by fishermen in boats and crews is factored in. Instead, the authorities could institute catch limits, for example, he said.
"There is a better way to do it," Campbell said. "I support being more prescriptive instead of using a shotgun blast to take everything out."
Campbell said he believes the resolution will be persuasive because it reflects the voice of South Carolina's decision-makers. It could be more effective if state leaders encourage North Carolina and Georgia to also voice opposition, he said.
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