September 29. Today, anglers will meet at 5 p.m. at Old City Hall, 510 Greene Street in Key West, to organize a strategy to rescind the pending closure of the grouper fishery starting January 1, 2009.

The pending closure of the grouper fishery in South Atlantic waters to protect gag grouper stocks, passed earlier this month by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council, is expected to be enacted by the Department of Commerce. However, news of the closure has rallied anglers to protest along the Atlantic Coast, and especially in the Keys, where gag grouper comprise only a fraction of a fraction of the total number of grouper caught.

In the highly tourism-dependent economy of the Keys, anglers and residents know that this closure of the black and red grouper fisheries during the winter tourist season will deal irreparable damage to the local economy. Many knowledgeable local anglers with decades on the water believe the closure is completely unjust, unfounded, and completely unnecessary.

Charter captains Andy Griffiths of Key West, and Bill Kelly of Islamorada, have been at the forefront of efforts against the closure, but many other citizens are now joining their call for a reconsideration of the shutdown.

“We will initiate legal action to stop this closure,” said Captain Bill Kelly on Monday early afternoon. “This issue is that important to us here in the Keys. We’re getting hammered here by this potential closure already.”

Recently, U.S. Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Monroe) contacted U.S. Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez to ask for a meeting to discuss the economic impacts of the pending 4-month closure during the height of tourist season.

The closure is seen as a form of protection for gag grouper, even though few gag grouper are ever landed in Keys waters.

Captain Andy Griffiths can be reached at: (305) 797-2639; fishandy@fishandy.com.

Captain Bill Kelly: (305) 394-5333.

For on-site details or directions to Key West’s Old City Hall for today’s meeting, interested anglers can also call Rob Harris, owner of Conchy Joe’s Bait and Tackle in Key West at (305) 295 7745.