The chaos characterizing Gulf of Mexico fisheries laws is poised to infect South Atlantic waters without executive-level intervention.
Chaos reigns in marine fisheries management thanks to a federal agency that advocates for private ownership of America’s public resources.
The alarming investigative series “Hooked Up” (Fox8/New Orleans) dug deep into the muck of the controversial giveaway of red snapper in the Gulf of Mexico. Now the stage is being set to export this swamp to the South Atlantic for at least six species – blueline tilefish, gag grouper, gray triggerfish, greater amberjack, the jacks complex and vermilion snapper.
A group calling itself the South Atlantic Commercial Fishing Collaborative is using the oft-abused federal Exempted Fishing Permit process to request a two-year pilot program to assign private ownership privileges for those six species to up to 25 commercial vessels.
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