The Council sets fishing policies from North Carolina to Florida and want to see vulnerable fish populations managed conservatively. It is informed that the council also worked out some details of a long-term red snapper recovery plan, which includes a ban on red snapper fishing and closing some areas of the ocean to all bottom fishing.
New set of rules ensure healthy populations in the face of new threats such as invasive lionfish that could seriously affect the region’s fish populations. Meanwhile, there’s never been more pressure put on these fish populations thanks to a booming human population in coastal zones.
It is quite difficult to assess how much essential fish habitat has been destroyed along the southeastern Atlantic by coastal construction and about the impacts to water quality from sources of pollution, including sedimentation by unsustainable construction practices and nutrient loading from fertilizers and other sources. At the same time, the crush of folks moving to the coasts has heavily increased the demand for fresh seafood.
With fish-population assessments, managers face real challenges. The amount of commercial fishing has reached industrial levels. It is challenging to conduct independent studies on fish life cycles under water. And it is difficult to keep accurate track of how much fish recreational anglers harvest.
