• South Florida anglers are encouraged to attend a public meeting Nov. 10 in Key Largo on proposals to shut down snapper and grouper fishing in South Atlantic federal waters indefinitely between Charleston, S.C., and Cape Canaveral. The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council has asked the Secretary of Commerce to close the red snapper fishery for six months while it comes up with permanent measures to rebuild overfished stocks. One possible option is a large area closure to all snapper-grouper fishing in order to prevent bycatch of red snapper. The only South Florida meeting will be held from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the Key Largo Grande, 97000 Overseas Highway. The deadline for public comment is Nov. 25. For more information,visit www.safmc.net.

• NOAA Fisheries supports a proposal to ban international trade in Atlantic bluefin tuna. Both NOAA and the Deptartment of the Interior issued statements calling for the highly prized pelagic species to be listed under the Convention for the International Trade in Endangered Species. A listing would allow continued domestic commercial and recreational fishing for bluefins, but no international sales.

``The status quo is not acceptable,'' Jane Lubchenco, NOAA Administrator, said in a prepared statement.

Lubchenco noted that bluefin stocks have declined dramatically in the past 40 years under the management of ICCAT, a United Nations-like fisheries management organization. ICCAT is scheduled to consider the issue at its annual meeting next month in Recife, Brazil. Ellen Peel, president of the Fort Lauderdale-based Billfish Foundation, will serve as a U.S. commissioner at ICCAT.

``The linchpin now rests with ICCAT to dramatically reduce quotas, stop international trade, close spawning grounds and show that it can stop illegal fishing or face a listing under CITES,'' Peel said in a statement.

• If you were born on or after Jan. 1, 1988, now is a good time to brush up on your boating safety skills. A new state law will take effect on Jan. 1 requiring new boaters to pass a state-approved boating safety course and obtain a boating safety identification card issued by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Another new state law makes drunken boating an even worse idea than before: If you show a blood-alcohol or breath-alcohol level of 0.15, you will face stiffer penalties. The old threshold for enhanced penalties was 0.20.

-- SUSAN COCKING

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