Florida agrees to shorten red snapper season

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission voted last week to shorten the recreational harvest season for red snapper in Gulf of Mexico state waters to account for over-harvests in 2008. The National Marine Fisheries Service has estimated that recreational fishermen exceeded last year's annual red snapper catch limit by about 1.2 million pounds. Under federal law the harvest levels must be reduced in the year following a previous year's overharvest. Because of that the state has decided that the red snapper season which began on June the 1st will now end on August the 14th. Normally it would continue through September the 30th. The action received support from several fishing groups and conservation organizations.