CHARLESTON, S.C. — September 18, 2013 — Federal regulators decided Wednesday they want more information before adding another 300 square miles to areas where bottom fishing is banned along the Southeast coast.
A proposal before a committee of the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council would have established 12 new Marine Protected Areas, to go with eight existing ones, in waters along the coast between the Carolinas and Florida.
In all, the new areas would have expanded areas closed to bottom fishing to about 1,100 square miles. The move has been proposed to help rebuild stocks of speckled hind and warsaw grouper.
Read the full story from the Daily Journal