In the “This Just In” department, I’m sorry to be the bearer of incredibly bad news.
“The reef fish committee of the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council, trying to protect loggerhead turtles, voted today to banish long-line grouper boats to water 300 feet or deeper for five months, beginning in late spring or early summer.
Long-liners, who catch more than 60 percent of commercial grouper, usually do not fish that far from shore because their main target species, red grouper, usually stay in shallower water. Some fishermen say the measure will put them out of business.
The full management council will vote on the measure Thursday, but the reef fish committee’s recommendation traditionally carries much weight.”
Read entire article here:
It appears we lose a significant portion of yet another fishery over bad or incomplete science and conservationist alarmism. I’m not sure how long this can go on. How a government agency can justify potentially putting hundreds, if not thousands, of American workers out of work by shutting down a healthy fishery for five months when the entire country is in a recession and begging for government bail-outs is beyond me. If anyone understands this, please share it with me, I’m stumped.