The federal government has banned fishing for certain species in eight new areas in the south Atlantic Ocean encompassing 529 nautical square miles from Florida to North Carolina, including a 50-square-mile area off Long Key called the East Hump.

Limiting fishing was a concession Upper Keys fishermen made to avoid closing an area called the Islamorada Hump, one of the most popular fishing spots in the Florida Keys village known as the "Fishing Capital of the World."

All fishing for snapper, grouper, tilefish, grunt, porgy and sea bass is prohibited in the protected areas. Commercial shark bottom long-line gear also is prohibited in these areas because it inadvertently can catch the deep-water fish species. Trolling for tuna, sailfish, dolphin and marlin is allowed because the gear used likely will not snag those fish.

The National Oceanic and Atmos-pheric Administration (NOAA) said it closed the areas because they are critical to the survival of more than 70 species of deep-water fish.

"Marine protected areas are designed to provide long-term protection for our nation's natural resources," Jim Balsiger, NOAA's acting assistant administrator for the National Marine Fisheries Service, wrote in a prepared statement Tuesday. "These areas of the south Atlantic were chosen because they feature known spawning grounds and nursery habitats for deep-water fish -- especially for snappers and groupers."

The protected fish are not good candidates for catch-and-release fishing because they suffer trauma when captured and reeled up from great depths, NOAA spokeswoman Kim Amendola said.

In addition, some species, such as snowy grouper, can live longer than 50 years and are the most productive spawners. It is important to protect the larger fish so they can spawn to their maximum potential, and equally important to protect the younger fish so they reach maturity, Amendola said.

The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council, which proposed the ban, has been working on the plan with Upper Keys sport fishermen for about five years, said Capt. Steve Leopold, president of the Islamorada Charter Boat's Association.

"It was a concession so they would not close the Islamorada Hump," which the council initially proposed, Leopold said.

That would have had devastating effects on sport charter fishing boat operators, Leopold said. Many Upper Keys charter boat captains regularly take their clients there.

"According to expert testimony, a [Marine Protected Area] off the coast of the so-called 'Fishing Capital of the World' would have led to extensive displacement costs to the fishing industry," NOAA officials stated in the ban's listing in the Federal Register.

The council approved the plan in March 2007 and sent it to the National Marine Fisheries Service as part of a larger management plan to protect the south Atlantic fish populations. Both the south Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico fishery management councils have enacted rules in recent years to protect grouper and snapper, some species of which are being overfished and need protection, fishery managers have said.

Each of the new protected areas range in size from 21 to 150 square miles. There are three off Florida, three off South Carolina, and one each off Georgia and North Carolina.

tohara@keysnews.com