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Red Snapper Rules Reversed
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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