Comment from JR Prather

I find it hard to believe that the Texas red snapper season is only proposed to be 12 days long... This comes at a time where all you can catch is snapper when trying to fish for any other species of fish over a wreck or around an oil rig. I have fished the texas gulf coast for 15 years and have seen a steady decline of species such as the spade fish and trigger fish, which now have limits imposed on them. I have some theories about why we are not seeing anymore of these fish and I can't see how a 12 day snapper season is "helping" this situation... The council is trying to "save" the snapper but all they are doing is disrupting the eco system in the gulf. By having such a short snapper season they are actually killing more snapper than they are saving. after season is over the recreational people go out and have no clue what to do with the snapper they catch around a rig and they do not know how to properly deflate them which is killing the snapper as they fish for other species. I believe the council needs to take another look at the harm they are causing to the gulf coast, not only to the eco system but to the economy as well! if you want to know what is going on in the gulf then maybe you should try getting out and actually visiting with some of the local fisherman instead of some government based research program that do not know where the fish are at!!!!!