The federal government allows a group of select people to sit at home, essentially do nothing and earn hundreds of thousands of dollars off a government resource. A Louisiana congressman says it's time to end this welfare system in the Gulf. Here's part one of our new investigative series, "Hooked Up".
The federal program that has made a select group of Gulf Coast fishermen millionaires has left a lot of Louisiana fishermen out of the money. Lee Zurik explains, with this latest installment of our "Hooked Up" investigation.
For most of the year, federal waters - waters owned by taxpayers - are off limits for fisherman looking to catch red snapper. Recreational and charter fisherman across the Gulf Coast feel commercial fishermen have an unfair allotment of a public resource, as we explore in our "Hooked Up" investigation.
What do you have the right to see, as a citizen of this country? if a vote takes place that essentially gives away a public resource for nothing, should you see who votes yes and who votes no? We continue our look at a program that has made a select group of fisherman millionaires - Hooked Up.
How did some shareholders of the lucrative red snapper quota force a Florida congressman out of office? It's another tale of campaign cash and public resources in this latest installment of FOX 8's "Hooked Up" investigation.
The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council manages the fishery resources in the federal waters of the Gulf of Mexico. It's one of eight regional fishery management councils in the United States, and it essentially manages the fishery from the nine-mile mark out to the 200-mile limit.
The most controversial part of the Red Snapper IFQ program may be the part that allows shareholders to sell their yearly allocation. It essentially turns some fishermen into businessmen. Our research has revealed about 120 shareholders - 37 percent of the whole - sell their entire allocation each year. It allows the shareholders to make tens, and in some cases, hundreds of thousands of dollars a year. Galveston commercial fisherman Buddy Guindon defends these fishe...
