SPANISH FORT, Ala. — Kenny Harper wasted little time Monday reclaiming his favorite pastime.

“It’s been a miserable summer not being able to do what I moved down here to do,” said Harper, a retiree and Tennessee transplant who welcomed Monday’s reopening of state fishing waters to recreational catch-and-keep fishing.

Area residents — especially those whose livelihoods depend on the weight and quality of their catches — have waited anxiously for the waters to reopen since fallout from the April 20 Deepwater Horizon oil spill began ravaging Baldwin County’s coastal communities.

Shrimper Bobby Wright said although he’s happy to get back to work as quickly as possible, he worries that customers have lost faith in the safety of his once prized fare.

“We’ve been praying so long for the Lord to bring us through this, and He’s done so in His time, not ours, so we just have to have faith that it hasn’t been for nothing,” Wright said.

Only the area north of Fort Morgan Peninsula was opened to commercial shrimping as of press time, pending safety testing of shrimp found offshore and in Pelican Bay.

Elsewhere in the state, Gov. Bob Riley issued an executive order capping the hourly fees attorneys can charge state agencies for pursuing lawsuits against BP PLC at $195 per hour, except under “extraordinary circumstances” approved by Riley himself.

“The top priority of a lawsuit must be to compensate Alabamians for their losses, not to enrich lawyers,” Riley said.

The order comes on the heels of Alabama Attorney General Troy King’s attempt to hire a law firm that would have collected 14 percent of any damages collected.

“(AG King’s) office confirmed to us (the firm) would receive that amount even if the lawyers did nothing. That’s unacceptable to me and to the people of Alabama,” Riley said, noting the order does not “bar the attorney general from doing anything or from pursuing this lawsuit, but it does protect the taxpayers from getting ripped off by lawyers who expect to make millions of dollars, even when they play no actual role in getting Alabamians the payments they deserve from BP.”