MoreBeach.com

March 5, 2009 - Along the South Atlantic coast commercial and charter fishermen report that they've been catching more and bigger red snapper than at any time in the past ten years. At the same time the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council and fisheries reasearchers say that red snapper stocks are perilously low, just 3% of what they should be. For this reason a ban has been proposed that would place red snapper off limits for up to six months in Atlantic waters off Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina.  Fishermen say that red snapper stocks are rebounding since 1992 regulations required them to throw back any snapper under 20 inches and also limited recreational anglers — who catch three-quarters of all Atlantic snappers — to two fish per trip. But the most recent  assessment by the National Marine Fisheries Service says the Atlantic snapper is being caught faster than they can sustainably reproduce.  Here's the full story from Russ Bynum at AP.