Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum waded into the controversy today over a federal ban on red snapper fishing, saying the impact on the state's $4.5 billion recreational fishing industry is "excessive."
McCollum, a candidate for the Republican gubernatorial nomination, sent a letter to the secretary of the U.S. Department of Commerce, Gary Locke, expressing concern over the economic impact on fisherman and Florida's economy.
The four-month ban was imposed in January by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. It prevents fishermen in the Atlantic off Florida's coast from keeping red snapper. Federal officials said the ban is necessary to rebuild red snapper stocks, which they say are a fraction of what they were 60 years ago. Under the requirements of the federal Magnuson-Stevens Act, the agency is charged with rebuilding the nation's fish stocks. The agency and the Southeast Fishery Management Council have debated additional restrictions on snapper and grouper fishing for more than two years.