Feds weigh a fishing ban on Atlantic red snapper

[The Straight Story]

Feds weigh a fishing ban on Atlantic red snapper

By RUSS BYNUM – 23 hours ago

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — After three decades as a charter fishing guide, Steve Amick says he's never seen red snapper as large or plentiful as he did last year off Georgia's Atlantic coast. Soon, catching them could be illegal.

Scientists for the federal government say the bountiful catch reported from Florida to North Carolina is a shallow illusion. The red snapper population, they say, is dwindling and needs a break from decades of overfishing.

A federal agency — the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council — voted 7-6 Thursday in favor of a six-month ban on red snapper fishing off the southern Atlantic seaboard, despite cries from fisherman that the fish are plentiful and their business will sink under any ban.

The measure, which requires final approval from the National Marine Fisheries Service, would make catching red snapper illegal for commercial and recreational fishermen in Atlantic waters off Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina — which had a combined catch of 415,000 pounds in 2007.

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[Captain Hilts]

1. Good! Fish aren't 'foodstocks', they're 'wildlife'. nt