NOAA Fisheries on Saturday shut down all recreational harvest of amberjack in Gulf federal waters -- more than nine miles from shore -- through the end of 2009. The agency issued a news bulletin saying recreational fishers have met their annual quota of 1,368,000 pounds, so no amberjack can be harvested through Dec. 31. The federal closure also applies to charter and headboats fishing in Gulf state waters.

CCA-Florida, a recreational fishing organization, immediately fired off a news release strongly criticizing the closure. The CCA noted that the quota was filled only because the Gulf of Fishery Management Council two years ago ``arbitrarily shifted a significant portion of the recreational allocation to the commercial sector.''

Even though the council declared amberjack overfished, CCA said, it increased the commercial allocation while decreasing the recreational bag limit and increasing the minimum size.

``Anglers were punished for supporting conservation measures and the commercial industry was rewarded for fishing over its quota,'' CCA-Florida executive director Ted Forsgren said.

CCA said recreational anglers fell short of their quota in 2008, but that underage was not taken into account in this year's closure.