MERCURY MARINE SHARES INDUSTRY’S DISAPPOINTMENT OVER THE PASSING OF AMENDMENT 40
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Mercury Marine, the world leader in commercial and recreational marine propulsion and technology, has partnered with FOX Sports Outdoors host Barry Stokes to express disappointment over the passing of Reef Fish Amendment 40 — the plan to divide the annual recreational red snapper quota among Gulf of Mexico private fishermen and charter boat operations.
You can watch that video on Mercury Marine’s YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkWt7vLR-wg&feature=youtu.be&list=PLZaU9l_NpP87UbQFZWVZIzDsfPRyvqAnl
The Amendment passed with a 10-7 vote by the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council in the final hours of the council’s quarterly meeting last week in Mobile, Alabama. The move could designate as much as 47 percent of the annual recreational red snapper take for charter boat operators and vastly limit the number of days recreational fishermen can fish for red snapper in the Gulf Coast region.
Bill Bird, chairman of CCA’s National Government Relations Committee says he doesn’t understand how the amendment was passed despite such strong public and political opposition from across the Gulf Coast region.
“This amendment will create such striking inequities for private recreational anglers that it is difficult to understand how this amendment will be sustainable. It is infuriating that the Gulf Council continues its giveaway of a public resource when the public has neither a reasonable season nor reasonable size and bag limits for that same resource.”
Read more on the decision to pass Amendment 40 on the Associated Press
