Try to ignore the political aspects of this for a moment. The entire biome of the Gulf is at stake here when a single species is threatened. The Gulf might seem

Try to ignore the political aspects of this for a moment. The entire biome of the Gulf is at stake here when a single species is threatened. The Gulf might seem like it's a huge body of water on paper (and I mean, it is) but it's a rather small salt water ecosystem by comparison. The smaller the ecosystem, the bigger the impact of a disruption. NOAA, for all of their faults and some questionable season closures, have helped successfully bring back several species from near extinction and in doing so helped keep the entire Gulf fishery alive. It's bigger than petty politics. I've been fishing for snapper for the last 8 years in the Gulf off of the Florida coast, where most of the prized species are heavily regulated (and heavily fined for breaking regs). The Gulf has seen several rounds of disruption and keeps bouncing back. Keeping the Gulf healthy is not only the right thing to do from an environmental view, but also for what it provides to the people who live in states and countries surrounding it.