Fishing Rights Alliance files suit over gag grouper ban

A sport fishermen's group has filed suit to block a six-month ban on gag grouper fishing in the Gulf of Mexico.

The Fishing Rights Alliance filed a lawsuit in federal court in Tampa on Monday to stop the National Marine Fisheries Service from implementing the ban which is scheduled to begin on January the 1^st.

The ban will also reduce the commercial quota from 1.49 million pounds to 100,000 pounds.

The temporary ban, which could be extended for up to a year, is designed to protect gag grouper from continued overfishing while the Fisheries Service completes work on a long-term solution.

The Fishing Rights Alliance says the National Marine Fisheries Service used faulty data to require the ban and the group believes the ban will further devastate Florida’s economy, where over 90% of all Gulf Gag Grouper is landed. 

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