As offshore anglers snarl at tightening catch restrictions and large area bottom closures, federal agencies are moving to regulate prized species like snapper and grouper in part by limiting the number of people who can go after them.
The system, called catch shares, restricts the number of permits issued and fish caught to make sure enough of the species survives to repopulate. The idea hasn't been popular here: Try divvying up a limited number of permits among more than 100,000 recreational, charter and commercial anglers in South Carolina alone.
Anglers of all stripes have bristled at the suggestion of it for years. But times have changed.
Faced with the threat of losing vast areas of prime fishing offshore, anglers have now petitioned the federal South Atlantic Fishery Management Council to take another look. What's at stake is a saltwater industry that's estimated to be worth $600 million per year in the state and the ability to put fresh, local sea fish on the plate in the Lowcountry.
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