Comment from Jeremy Adams

The proposed closure of Red Snapper along Florida's East Coast is absurd. We, the tax paying and voting citizens, entrust our governing body to make sound and practical decisions on managing our natural resources. When the science clearly points out that commercial harvesting has a much more harmful impact on the fish stock than the recreational limit of 2 fish per person, why is it that the recreational fisherman is the one being punished? The disproportionate allocation between the commercial and recreational harvest is what needs to be fixed no closing the fishery all together. I could live with a 1 year moratorium if I knew that upon completion a realistic allocation would be reached. But, unfortunately, the commercial lobbying effort will always leave the recreational fisherman holding the bag. With the high mortality by-catch rate of the commercial fleet, we can never truly reach a balance. Let's take a long, hard look at the small number of commercial harvesters that continue to do the most damage to the fish stock instaed of punishing the weekend fisherman who is only bringing home his 2 fish limit.