South Atlantic

Policy Work

Fishery managers approved a temporary ban on red snapper fishing in federal waters from North Carolina to Florida in March 2009.

The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council, which governs fisheries from 3 to 200 miles off North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and the east cost of Florida, is studying ways to restore the fish. Options include a longer red snapper fishing ban and limits on fishing for other deep-dwelling species if snapper might be caught accidentally.

The federal Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act requires the council to set science-based limits on numbers of fish caught annually. Deadlines are 2010 and 2011 for setting biological limits and enacting rules to end overfishing of all species.