Federal fishery managers have dropped plans to close about 5,000 square miles of Atlantic ocean to bottom fishing as part of a red snapper recovery plan.

Officials with the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council say, new scientific findings show the closure is not needed for the species' recovery.

Fishermen worried, a closure would cripple their industry.

Bottom fishing often kills sea life that fishermen don't intend to kill.

However, a major part of the plan -- a moratorium on red snapper fishing -- remains in the council's plan.

That means fishermen can still bottom fish, but they have to throw snapper back if they catch them.

Tags: Savannah, Brunswick, GPB News, red snapper, South Atlantic Fisheries Management Council, Atlantic coast