April 30, 2015 —
Gulf of Mexico red snapper anglers will get a 10-day season in 2015, while charter captains will have 44 days to pursue the popular fish. The recreational season will open June 1.
The 2015 season will mark the first time the two segments of the recreational fishery have been allowed open dates that are distinct from one another. The so-called sector separation, which was approved three weeks ago by Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker, is unpopular with recreational-fishing advocacy groups because it shortens the amount of time private-boat anglers may fish red snapper.
“It’s another example of the inequity of this management system,” said Chris Macaluso of the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership. “The idea of having separate seasons for a sector of fishery that the Magnuson Act specifically says should be counted as one just further illustrates that the system is not working.”
Read the full story at the New Orleans Times-Picayune