‘Send it overboard’: Federal judge just halted the longest red snapper season in years

Miles from shore, Chris Kemp pumps and reels as he battles a fish 150 feet below. Eventually, it gives up, and the 10-pound red snapper is hauled aboard the Jodie Lynn II.

There’s barely time to rejoice. As Kemp raises his trophy for a picture, the charter boat’s captain rushes over and then drives a knifelike tool into the fish’s gas-filled bladder. The procedure, required by federal law, is intended to improve the fish’s chances of survival after release.

“Send it overboard,” orders the captain. And with that, Kemp’s hopes of bringing the fish home to eat was lost.

Recreational fishermen like Kemp are pitched against commercial fishermen and environmentalists in a legal dispute that has halted what was expected to be the longest snapper season in years, reflecting broader tensions over the Trump administration’s efforts to loosen fishing rules and deregulate the seas.

As part of those efforts, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in May exempted states from some restrictions under the Magnuson-Stevens Act, the landmark law that guides fisheries management. But the decision was halted at the last minute by a federal judge in Washington who blocked the plan.

The Atlantic red snapper is known for both its fighting ability and popularity at the dinner table. After decades of overfishing, regulators in 2010 restricted recreational fishing to only a handful of days each year — when not banned altogether.

Starting last year,........

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