December 4, 2014 — The head of Alabama's marine fisheries unit expressed confidence Thursday that a measure to give states more authority to manage red snapper fishing in the Gulf of Mexico will pass Congress next year.
Alabama Marine Resources Division Director Chris Blankenship, who testified before a congressional subcommittee Thursday, said in an interview that he received positive feedback in visits with the offices of Alabama's two U.S. senators.
"I think there's a good chance something will pass the House and Senate," he said.
Blankenship told the Fisheries, Wildlife, Oceans and Insular Affairs Subcommittee of the Natural Resources Committee that he believes his agency has done a better job than the federal government in measuring the red snapper population in the Gulf.
Under federal rules, this year's recreational red snapper season lasted just nine days – the shortest on record. Blankenship said in an interview that the season would have been longer if the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that had used Alabama's data.
"It would have at least doubled the season this year," he said.