The Recreational Fishing Alliance (RFA) and attorney Dave Heil of Orlando filed a lawsuit against the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) today, the same day the interim rule to close red snapper fishing in Southeast U.S. Atlantic waters was published in the Federal Register, volume 74, number 232. The red snapper closure will take effect January 4, 2010, as the R.F.A.’s lawsuit begins to move through the U.S. District Court in Jacksonville.

The lengthy and detailed Federal Register rule can be read here, on the U.S. government’s web site: edocket.access.gpo.gov/2009/E9-28989.htm. This document includes summaries of protests against the closure and responses to them from the fishery managers. It serves as an excellent introduction to the controversy over the red snapper closure, both its disputed scientific basis and its expected damage to recreational fishing and financial interests connected to that industry.

The RFA’s lawsuit seeks an emergency injunction to prevent the closure from taking effect and requests that the rule that created the ban be banned itself.

“We have today filed a lawsuit in Federal Court in Jacksonville,” said Heil, “and we feel confident that once a federal judge reviews the arbitrary and capricious methods used by the National Marine Fisheries Service, the closure will be overturned.”

Among other points, Heil and the RFA found their case on the inadequacy of the recreational catch data used to compile the statistical studies of red snapper populations, which the NMFS claims indicate an overfished stock of red snapper. The legal complaint against the closure states, “The fundamental flaw in Red Snapper Interim Rule is that NMFS wants the power and flexibility to close fisheries when an ACL is reached without meeting the preconditions Congress has imposed on such an expansive power. In the Magnuson-Stevens Reauthorization Act (MSRA), Congress delayed the requirements for ACLs and AMs until 2010 based on the notion that NMFS would be basing decisions on vastly-improved sources of data by January 1, 2009. NMFS is attempting to cherry-pick those portions of the MSA and the National Standards that it likes, while ignoring the portions that do not fit its predetermined goals. This a la carte usage of the MSA and the National Standards is another clear example of the arbitrary and capricious methods used by NMFS in enacting this Interim Rule and the general practices it uses in management of the fisheries.”

In addition to the legal challenge submitted in Jacksonville, RFA continues to seek support from Florida Senator Bill Nelson for the Flexibility in Rebuilding American Fisheries Act of 2009 (S-1255). “Recent amendments to the Magnuson Stevens Act have led to these arbitrary and unprecedented restrictions on many of our most important recreational fisheries in the Gulf and South Atlantic,” Jim Donofrio of the RFA said. “We believe that Magnuson can be amended to allow a balance of conservation and access at the same time.”

More than 150 groups, organizations and businesses have signed on with the RFA to support S-1255, including Cooperative of Gulf Fishermen, Destin Charter Boat Association, Fishing Rights Alliance, Indian River Charter Boat Association, Marco Island Charter Captains Association, Panama City Boatmen Association, Pensacola Charterboat Association and South Atlantic Charterboat Association. National supporting groups include Marine Retailers Association of America, National Association of Charterboat Operators and National Marine Manufacturers Association. A full list of these groups is available at www.joinrfa.org/Press/FlexibilitySupporters_061809.pdf.

The red snapper fishing closure is highly controversial and RFA’s lawsuit is likely the first of many strong protests from the recreational fishing community against the interim rule.

Read the RFA's actual complaint here.