South Atlantic Fisheries Council (SAFMC) Proposes Massive Closures
The SAFMC, which manages fishing in federal waters of North and South Carolina, Georgia, and the east coast of Florida, is conducting hearings on options, all of which will severely curtail fishing for the grouper and snapper families of fish. Grouper and red snapper are going to be hit the hardest, with red snapper being exposed to a renewable 6 month total closure on the Atlantic coast. That means this fishery could - and probably will - be closed for a year or more while these politicians use what appears to be shoddy evidence to stop fishing. Grouper fishing in the Florida Keys will all but be eliminated.
If you live or fish in this area, you need to get your congressmen and women involved. Hearings are set through August and September, but without a strong voice and some kind of intervention we may be faced with a situation that can have a severe impact on more than just us fishermen.
Comments
I’ll surely get in touch with my congressmen about this . I used to live in Miami and Big Pine Key and have witnessed several poaching incidents. The problem I saw was lack of support for the marine patrol and liberal judges that failed to take poaching seriously. Calls to the authorities where seldom followed up because there where to few officers. We don’t need more laws. The laws we already have need to be enforced. I also think the price of gas is goin to lessen the impact on the fisheries. I haven’t seen so many large boats for sale since the 70’s gas crunch.