Jacksonville fishing is great! Jacksonville is home to many avid fisherman and charter fisherman and offers a wide variety of fishing including offshore, inshore saltwater and freshwater. Offshore popular catches include grouper, snapper, sailfish, dolphin, wahoo, cobia, kingfish, and many more. Jacksonville has both inshore flats saltwater fishing for some backwater action and inshore deep water too. You can look forward redfish, flounder, drum, trout, sheepshead and more. For those who prefer freshwater you will be reeling in the large mouth bass, catfish, striper and more.
If you are looking to really experience what Jacksonville has to offer in fishing, then take some to time to locate a good fishing charter guide. A day of fishing in Jacksonville can be great but it can also be exceptional with the right fishing guide. Jacksonville is a sport fishing dream come true! Fishing in the Northeast Florida area includes Amelia Island to St. Augustine. Excellent fishing everywhere you turn!
The northeast Florida coast is home to many qualified and experienced fishing charter guides for whatever type of fishing you prefer.
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Jacksonville Fishing News
A group suing to stop a federal ban on red snapper fishing will use testimony from Northeast Florida’s fishing industry to help make its case.
Business owners from the Jacksonville area, Cape Canaveral and elsewhere are being asked this week for affidavits describing how the six-month ban scheduled to start Jan. 4 will hurt them, said David Heil, a lawyer representing the Recreational Fishing Alliance.
The New Jersey-based group filed a complaint in Jacksonville federal court Friday, asking for an injunction to keep the National Marine Fisheries Service from carrying out the ban announced last week. That would be followed by a lawsuit over whether the ban was justified.
To get an injunction, the group would have to convince a judge the ban would cause permanent harm, and that there’s a strong chance the people suing would win their case.
“That’s why we need the affidavits,” Heil said. “We need affidavits from people who say, 'we’re going to be irreparably harmed … if you shut us down, the charter boat is going to shut down and not come back.’ ”
Heil said he’ll be seeking affidavits this week and will pursue a date for a court hearing. An attorney representing the Fisheries Service, Bradley H. Oiphant, did not return messages left by phone and e-mail.
The six-month ban applies to commercial and recreational fishing in waters more than three miles offshore from Florida’s east coast to North Carolina. Snapper are deepwater fish normally found miles offshore.
The ban was designed as a stopgap by regulators who said a federal law, the Magnuson-Stevens Act, requires them to act within a year when evidence shows fish breeding stocks are being depleted. Read the whole article.
NOAA institutes red snapper ban
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Fisheries Service announced an interim rule that will prohibit commercial and recreational fishing for red snapper in federal waters off North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and the Atlantic coast of Florida.
The move drew sharp criticism from the Recreational Fishing Alliance, which says it will seek an emergency injunction to prevent the ban from going into effect.
"We have ... filed a lawsuit in federal court in Jacksonville, Fla. 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," RFA attorney Dave Heil said in a statement.
The six-month rule becomes effective Jan. 4 and can be extended an additional six months if necessary.
The most recent scientific assessment shows too many red snapper are being removed from the population, which indicates a need for protection under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, NOAA said in a statement. Most of the remaining population consists of smaller, younger fish, which produce fewer eggs than older fish.
"The Magnuson-Stevens Act requires us to manage fish populations so they grow to a size that can sustain the largest average catch possible for the long term," said Roy Crabtree, southeast regional administrator for NOAA's Fisheries Service, in a statement. "Unfortunately, the red snapper population has not been able to reach that size; therefore, closing the fishery is the first step toward protecting this species, rebuilding the stock and ensuring fishing for generations to come." Read the whole article.
