Tag Archives: red grouper
One fish, two fish: The local commercial fishing industry faces daunting challenges despite high demand
It’s just after noon on an unseasonably warm Friday in early spring. Naples has had a string of cold days and now this hot one, but no one standing in line in front of Mike’s Bait House in East Naples seems to mind. The line extends from the street, where cars are parked nose-to-bumper. It snakes through the parking lot and winds beside a black extended-cab Chevy. In the back of the truck, two young men from Dilly’s Fish Co, owned by Tim “Dilly” Dillingham, lean over Grizzly coolers. “What’s the difference between a lane snapper and a red snapper?” a man in line calls out. “A red snapper’s going to be a little more firm,” one of the young men in the back of the truck answers. That’s Dominick Biagetti, Dillingham’s right-hand man. Biagetti serves as boat captain and crew, and he helps with offloading and delivery. He has a seascape tattooed on his leg, an underwater reef scene with a turtle and a moray eel. >click to read< 12:10
Gulf commercial fishermen file lawsuit over new red grouper quotas
The federal government will soon impose new limits on the amount of red grouper that commercial fishers can catch in the Gulf of Mexico and local business owners say that will impact the industry and their customers. “It will definitely cost you more today. And will probably cost you more tomorrow because there’ll be less allocation,” said Frank Chivas. Karen Bell, owner of A.P. Bell Fishing Company in Cortez agrees that the price for grouper is likely to rise. Bell has signed on to a federal lawsuit challenging the reallocation of the red grouper harvest. > click to read < 09:49
Gulf Coast Seafood Alliance Supports Lawsuit Challenging Unlawful Red Grouper Quotas
Commercial fishermen and members of the Gulf of Mexico seafood industry have filed a lawsuit challenging the legality of a recent decision by NOAA Fisheries to reallocate red grouper quota to recreational fishermen at the expense of the commercial fishery. The Gulf Coast Seafood Alliance supports the efforts by the Gulf of Mexico Reef Fish Shareholders’ Alliance, Southern Offshore Fishing Association, and A.P. Bell Fish Company to challenge this decision, in an effort to restore a fair allocation for commercial fishermen. The lawsuit, filed late on Friday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, challenges recent red grouper allocations approved by NOAA as part of Amendment 53 to the Fishery Management Plan for the Reef Fish Resources of the Gulf of Mexico. >click to read< 16:16
Cape Coral fishing captain admits illegal grouper, snapper hauls, federal prosecutors say
A Cape Coral fishing boat captain faces possible federal prison time after admitting in federal court Monday that he illegally caught and sold 50,000 pounds of red grouper and red snapper over five years, in defiance of Gulf of Mexico limits. Federal prosecutors said Mark Zywotko lied about the size of his boat’s haul of the grouper and snapper in reports fishing boats must file reporting catches of some popular and protected gulf reef fish. >click to read< 12:40
