This is a sensible approach to regulating the regulators. Federal officials need to be sure they have good data before they make decisions affecting the livelihoods of thousands of people.
A bill authored by U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., would slow the federal government's rush to impose severe restrictions on fishing in the South Atlantic.
Following the dictates of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, the federal law governing fishing regulations, the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council imposed an interim ban on fishing for red snapper in an area stretching from North Carolina to the Florida Keys. Now the National Marine Fisheries Service is preparing to act on a proposal that would ban bottom fishing for red snapper and more than 70 species in the snapper-grouper complex. The ban would cover an area extending from Georgia to south of Cape Canaveral.
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