WDAM - Channel 7 - Serving Hattiesburg, Laurel and the Pine BeltGulf fishery council ups red snapper catch limit
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Associated Press - February 5, 2010 5:54 AM ET
NEW ORLEANS (AP) - A Gulf of Mexico fisheries council says it wants to increase the amount of red snapper fishermen can catch.
On Thursday, the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council voted to raise the annual catch limit from 5 million pounds to 6.9 million pounds. The council met in Mobile, Ala.
Recent red snapper studies found that the species was no longer being overfished and that it is rebounding.
Still, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration needs to approve letting more red snapper get caught.
The Ocean Conservancy, an environmental group, said efforts to end overfishing and rebuild red snapper made the increase possible.
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