In April, Inventive Fishing reported that the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department had partnered with the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries to file suit in United States District Court in Brownsville, Texas to dispute the emergency regulation enacted by the National Marine Fisheries Service on February 8, 2013 despite objections from Florida, Texans, and Louisiana. The Gulf of Mexico Fisheries Management Council had voted to enact an emergency regulation to reduce the recreational red snapper season in federal waters off of Texas to only 12 days this year. The same regulation would reduce the red snapper season in federal waters off of Louisiana to a mere nine days. Last year’s season in all Gulf federal waters was 46 days. In Texas waters last year’s season remained open all year and in Louisiana waters it was opened for 88 days.

Well, today Brownsville Federal Judge Andrew Hanen ruled in favor of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries joint lawsuit. According to Conor Harrison’s report in Lonestar Outdoor News, “According to Mike Cox, information specialist at TPWD, the NMFS has not set a date for the closure of the federal red snapper season, which opened June 1.”

While no date has been set for the close of this year’s red snapper season,  TPW Commission Chairman T. Dan Friedkin has responded to the court ruling, saying,  “The Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission is relieved the court has invalidated a rule that was arbitrarily unfair to Texas anglers, coastal communities and businesses. At the same time, we remain committed to a cooperative regional management approach to support the existing Gulf plan for the continued recovery of red snapper.”

For more about the case, see Conor Harrison’s report in Lonestar Outdoor News,

FISH ON!

 

fish, Fishing, Louisiana, Red Snapper, Regulations, Texas

By Sid

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