GULF SHORES, Ala. - Five South Baldwin residents have been tapped for Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council’s various advisory panels and committees.

Troy Frady of Lillian, along with Tracy Redding and Debra Wilhite of Gulf Shores, have been appointed to the Data Collection Advisory Panel.  Silverhill resident David Rainer was named to the Outreach and Education Advisory Panel, and Jeff Chambliss of Orange Beach was selected for the Red Drum Advisory Panel. These appointees will help lend recommendations for potential rule changes the Council would consider.

The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council is one of eight regional Fishery Management Councils established by the Fishery Conservation and Management Act of 1976. The Council prepares fishery management plans designed to manage fishery resources from where state waters end, out to the 200-mile limit of the Gulf of Mexico. These waters are also known as the Exclusive Economic Zone.

The Council consists of 17 voting members: the Southeast Regional Administrator of NMFS, the directors of the five Gulf state marine resource management agencies and 11 members who are nominated by the state governors and appointed by the secretary of Commerce.

A hot topic this year for the council and sportsmen alike along the Gulf Coast has been the battle over gamefishing access to Gulf Red Snapper.  NOAA Fisheries has limited the season to just 21 days in federal waters of the Gulf of Mexico.  Florida's Fish and Wildlife commission just voted last week to extend the season in state waters to 44 days, joining Texas and Louisiana in doing so earlier.  In the midst of the all this Snapper snarl, congressional action is pending as well regarding the season and catch-limit controversy.