On October 6, 2008, NOAA Fisheries Service published a final rule to transfer the management authority for Atlantic coast red drum in federal waters from the Magnuson-Stevens Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act) to the Atlantic Coastal Fisheries Cooperative Management Act (Atlantic Coastal Act). The purpose of this action is to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of managing Atlantic coast red drum. This action is unrelated to the recent Executive Order designating red drum a game fish species in federal waters of the South Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico. The effective date of the final rule was November 5, 2008.
