Fishermen protest new government limits

ORANGE BEACH, Ala. - More than 60 charter and recreational boats filled Perdido Pass in Orange Beach Saturday morning. The fishermen say new government rules limiting the red snapper catch to one fish per person is based on faulty data.

Wynell Bell is worried the rule could put her son and others out of business.

"Trying to support them, because they're just basically going to lose their livelihood if something isn't done about the regulations, and the rules that cut down the number of snapper that they can catch," she said.

The rules are intended to protect the species from over fishing, but protest organizer Tom Steber believes there's no shortage of snapper in Orange Beach.

"It's just so many snapper out there you can hardly catch anything else," Steber said.

Steber said the fishing season is unfairly shortened every year.

"You go from fishing year around to fishing 6 months, to fishing 3 months, and now they're talking about one month. It will but most of the charter boats out of business," he said.

Orange Beach Mayor Tony Kennon agrees.

"The national marine fishery have shut down our snapper season, effectively when in reality we've got more snapper fish to be caught out there than people know what to do with," Kennon said.

State Representative Steve McMillan said it's no accident that Alabama waters are filled with snapper.

According the McMillan the state has planted thousands of reefs to encourage snapper growth. He said Alabama lawmakers have to get that message to Washington.

"I think that Alabama has got to show that we've done a good job of being good stewards of our snapper fishery. We've put a lot of habitat reefs out there and we've done a good job, and now we're being penalized for that, because they're lumping us in with the rest of the gulf," McMillan said.

There were similar protest held in Florida and Louisiana.