WASHINGTON, July 15 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Lee Crockett, director of federal fisheries policy for the Pew Environment Group, and Holly Binns, manager of Pew's Campaign to End Overfishing in the Southeast, issued this joint statement today on Senator Bill Nelson's (D-Fla.) legislation to weaken a key federal fishery law, the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, and delay plans to end overfishing and rebuild the severely depleted South Atlantic red snapper. The statement of Lee Crockett: "This bill will undermine the nation's commitment to restore depleted ocean fish populations.

Fishery experts have known for years that shrimp trawling operations in the Gulf of Mexico are contributing to sharp declines in the ranks of Red Snapper, one of the most delicious and popular marine fish on the seafood menu.

By Al Jones, The Sun Herald, Biloxi, Miss. Jul. 27--The recent Midwest flood continues to dampen the South Mississippi fishing report, but things are getting better. Toss in Hurricane Dolly making landfall near the Texas/Mexico border, and things should continue to improve through Labor Day.

By Ben Christensen, The Brownsville Herald, Texas Jun. 2--National Marine Fisheries Service has added a few more rules to its already restrictive set of regulations adopted in 2007 for recreational and commercial Gulf of Mexico red snapper fishing for the 2008 fishing season in U.S.

By JIM SUTTON Anglers on Florida's Gulf Coast are seeing red because, in a way, they won't be seeing red for quite a while. NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service announced a complete closure of red snapper fishing for recreational anglers starting Aug.