Thread: Commercial vs. Recreational

Originally Posted by Big Dawg

All the more reason for Alabama to set their own creel limits and season length for Red Snapper in Alabama waters. Other Gulf Coast states have, so why not Alabama? I personally love to fish for Red Snapper, but I refuse to spend the money for fuel for my personal boat or pay the cost of a head boat or charter trip under the current NMFS regulations.

Alabama did this to an extent last year. However, the problem is that Alabama waters only go out 3 miles. While there are snapper to be caught within 3 miles, that is still very limiting. Alabama has declared that it now owns waters out to 9 miles -- just like LA and FL -- but this assertion has not been federally recognized, meaning fish in the 3-9 mile zone at your own risk. Feds will still write tickets in that zone, but state level officers will not with one caveat; to further complicate things, federal fisheries officers will ride out on ALMR boats (ALMR cannot turn them down without losing big funding) and ticket people who thought they were safe when they saw an ALMR boat approaching.

Also charter boats hate on this approach because federal permit holders have to obey federal regulations even when fishing in state waters. Your head spinning yet?