Red snapper mini-seasons
Update: Read the latest from the SAFMC here.
Reporting from a federal fisheries council meeting in Orlando today, the Daytona Beach News-Journal says recreational and commercial fishermen along the southeast Atlantic Coast will share a limit of 13,067 snapper during short mini-seasons later this year.
The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council voted this morning to adopt a proposal from its snapper/grouper committee that would allow anglers to take one red snapper each during three-day seasons, the paper reported. More details are expected soon. The council’s recommendation must be approved by NOAA Fisheries.
A federal ban on red-snapper fishing has been effective since Jan. 4, 2010. Area closures had been suggested but were deemed unnecessary later that year. The most recent stock assessment shows red snapper are undergoing overfishing (rate of removal is too high) and are overfished (population abundance is too low).
