With the continual changes in regulations and the fines attached to fishing violations, it is very important to correctly identify your catch. And there’s no group of Gulf fishes more difficult to identify than the sharks. And also, there’s no group of Gulf fishes with more protected species than sharks. There is a small culture…
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An Eight-Day Gulf Snapper Season
Snapper Regulations Spiral Down Again As I write this, the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council is wrapping up its April meeting. And while details on dates of opening and closing of the recreational red snapper season are yet to be announced, the recommendation from the National Marine Fishery Service (NMFS) Science Center in Miami…
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Alabama Deep Sea Fishing Rodeo
The Alabama Deep Sea Fishing Rodeo is a 3-day fishing competition with 30 categories. Located on Dauphin Island, Alabama, this will be the rodeo’s 84th year running. Thousands of anglers participate each year, drawing tens of thousands of eager spectators, making this the largest fishing tournament in the country. [caption id="attachment_2394" align="alignright" width="191"] Dr. Bob…
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The Great Gulf Red Snapper Train Wreck
35 Years of Flawed Data, User Conflicts and Political Infighting A colleague sent me an email recently that’s typical of many received in recent years. He had just been copied on a cruise report from a research group working off the Texas coast. Their vertical long-line had just landed 112 fish, of which 109 were…
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