Alabama
Mexican cartels are smuggling Alabama red snapper – Tuberville, Britt fight back with new law – Yellowhammer News
With over 12,000 employees and an annual statewide impact of $1.1 billion, Alabama’s fishing industry is vital to the state’s economic standing.
However, those achievements are under threat from outside sources that could severely damage one of Alabama’s key industries.
According to U.S. Senators Tommy Tuberville and Katie Britt, cartels in Mexico have been funding and backing fishermen who are catching American red snapper, smuggling the fish back into Mexico, and then reselling it to American consumers for often a cheaper price than fish caught by American anglers.
To halt the encroachment on the fishing industry, both lawmakers have helped to reintroduce the Illegal Red Snapper and Tuna Enforcement Act to ensure that only American caught fish are available for consumers.
The legislation would allow a field test kit to be used to accurately ascertain whether fish were caught in U.S. or foreign waters, giving federal and state law enforcement officers the ability to identify the origin of the fish and confiscate illegally caught red snapper and tuna before it is imported back into the U.S.
On Monday, the bill advanced out of the Senate Commerce Committee.
“Senate Republicans are committed to putting America first, which requires legislation that protects hardworking Americans, including our tremendous Gulf of America red snapper fishermen and food producers in Alabama,” said Britt. “These Alabamians deserve fairness when fishing and selling their products in the market.”
Sens. Tuberville, Britt advance law to combat illegal red snapper trade in support of Alabama industry
“Advancing the Illegal Red Snapper and Tuna Enforcement Act is a first step to protecting Alabama’s fishermen and putting cartel-backed poachers on notice for their illicit activities in the Gulf. This legislation will help ensure a level playing field for our fishermen and send a strong message to Mexico that illegal actions will no longer be tolerated.”
Tuberville echoed Britt’s sentiments on the importance of protecting Alabama’s fishing industry.
“Alabama lands 34 percent of all recreationally caught Red Snapper in the Gulf,” Tuberville (R-Auburn) said.
“Unfortunately, our domestic Red Snapper industry is being undermined by Mexican fishermen who are illegally catching American snapper in the Gulf, smuggling them into Mexico, and then reselling the same fish back to American consumers. In addition to taking business away from Alabama’s fishermen, many of the profits from these illegal fishing operations are funding the cartels. I’m proud to join Senator Cruz in introducing the Illegal Red Snapper and Tuna Enforcement Act to stop illegal Red Snapper from flooding our markets and bankrupting our great fishermen.”
Each year, about 100,000 red snapper are harvested off of Alabama’s coast, accounting for almost a third of the total recreational harvest in the Gulf of America.
Austen Shipley is the News Director for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on X @ShipleyAusten
Does that animal have rabies? Here are signs and symptoms to look for
Rabies is an infectious disease that affects the central nervous system in mammals. Here’s what to look for in pets.
The Republic
State health officials are urging people to keep their pets vaccinated for rabies after a fox in Elmore County and a raccoon in Lee County tested positive for the virus.
On May 1, the raccoon was spotted acting strangely near Auburn, and the fox emerged from a wooded area and attacked a person in Tallassee, according to the Alabama Department of Public Health. The person has sought medical treatment.
“Rabies is not seasonal, and we continue to see cases year-round, but late spring is a time when activity peaks, particularly in wildlife,” said Dr. Dee Jones, state veterinarian for the ADPH, “The primary risk of rabies from wildlife is our pets, and keeping them up to date on rabies vaccine is critical.”
Alabama state law requires that dogs, cats and ferrets 12 weeks of age and older be current with rabies vaccination. In addition to vaccination, area residents are advised to take the following precautions to avoid possible exposure to rabies:
- Do not leave uneaten pet food or scraps near your residence.
- Do not allow pets to run loose; confine them within a fenced-in area or with a leash.
- Do not illegally feed or keep wildlife as pets.
- Do not go near wildlife or domestic animals that are acting in a strange or unusual manner.
- Caution children not to go near any stray or wild animal, regardless of its behavior.
Contact Montgomery Advertiser reporter Marty Roney at mroney@gannett.com. To support his work, please subscribe to the Montgomery Advertiser.
U.S. Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-Haleyville) says Alabama is on the cusp of delivering a sixth Republican congressional seat, and with it, potentially the U.S. House majority itself.
“Getting one seat in November, this November, we don’t have to wait two years, could decide the majority for the Republicans,” Aderholt said today on “The Rightside” in partnership with Yellowhammer News, hosted by Allison Sinclair and Amie Beth Shaver.
“So that’s very appealing,” he added.
Aderholt predicted a return to the congressional map drawn and approved by the Alabama Legislature in 2023, before the federal courts stepped in and forced a redraw.
If the U.S. Supreme Court lifts the injunction barring Alabama from altering its congressional map before 2030, the state would go back to the one approved by the Legislature and signed into law by the governor that year.
The 2023 map essentially creates six Republican districts and one Democratic district.
The Alabama Legislature passed both chambers’ redistricting bills Wednesday as the special session continues in Montgomery.
Aderholt referenced the “Livingston map,” the Legislature’s 2023-approved plan in namesake of State Sen. Steve Livingston (R-Scottsboro), arguing it was consistent with the Supreme Court’s recent direction that race cannot be the predominant factor in drawing district lines.
“It would not put a second minority district, per se, but it would give opportunities for everybody in the state of Alabama to have equal opportunity to be elected to Congress, whether they’re black or whether white,” Aderholt said.
Some have called for state lawmakers to a map that would make all seven districts Republican-leaning, but Aderholt explained the issues with going down that route.
“There are some proposals out there to try to do a what is called a true 7-0 map where there’s no chance that a Democrat could be elected in any of the congressional districts…and there is some down there that are afraid that if you do away with that one, in addition to doing away with the new district that was drawn where Shomari Figures is that, that would be an overreach, and the court would put everything on hold, and we couldn’t do we couldn’t even get the additional seat until the court order, a different court order came through, and who knows when that would be.”
Yaffee is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts “The Yaffee Program” weekdays 9-11 a.m. on WVNN. You can follow him on X @Yaffee
As the Alabama Legislature convened Monday for another special session, it marks the tenth time in the past decade that a governor has called lawmakers back to Montgomery outside the regular calendar.
Here’s a look at what brought them back each time.
2015: General Fund budget crisis
Governor Robert Bentley called lawmakers back after vetoing a cut-heavy General Fund budget that would have slashed roughly $200 million from state agencies. The rainy day borrowing from the Alabama Trust Fund that had propped up state government since 2012 had finally run dry. Bentley proposed a $310 million tax increase package. Legislative leaders recessed for three weeks and then resurrected the same budget he had already vetoed. Nothing passed.
2015: Budget, take two
With the fiscal year starting October 1 and still no budget, Bentley called a second session. Lawmakers hammered out a patchwork compromise that averted a government shutdown but fell well short of the structural revenue fix Bentley had pushed for.
2016 — Medicaid funding and the lottery
Medicaid faced an $85 million shortfall. Bentley called lawmakers back and pushed a lottery bill that would have sent $100 million annually to Medicaid. The Senate passed it 21-12, but the House couldn’t get there. The fallback was a $640 million bond issue backed by Alabama’s BP Deepwater Horizon settlement, which kept Medicaid funded for two more fiscal years. The lottery died again.
2019 — Rebuild Alabama gas tax
Ivey called a special session the day after her State of the State address to pass a 10-cent gas tax increase, the state’s first in 27 years. The three-bill package passed quickly.
2021 — First Special Session: Prison construction
Facing a federal DOJ lawsuit over unconstitutional prison conditions, Ivey called lawmakers back to authorize a $1.3 billion prison construction plan funded by state bonds, General Fund dollars, and $400 million in federal COVID relief money.
2021 — Second Special Session: Post-census redistricting
Delayed census data pushed redistricting into a special session. Lawmakers drew new congressional, state legislative, and school board maps in five days. The congressional map was immediately challenged as a Voting Rights Act violation, launching the Allen v. Milligan litigation that continues today.
2022 — ARPA funds, first tranche
Ivey called lawmakers back to appropriate $772 million in remaining federal relief funds. The session produced over $276 million for broadband expansion, plus major investments in water and sewer infrastructure.
2023 — First Special Session: ARPA funds, second tranche
Another $1.06 billion in federal funds needed appropriation. Ivey used the same tactic as 2019: State of the State one day, special session the next. The money went to healthcare, broadband, infrastructure, and repaying the final $60 million owed to the Alabama Trust Fund from the Bentley-era borrowing.
2023 — Second Special Session: Court-ordered redistricting
After the Supreme Court ruled in Allen v. Milligan that Alabama’s map likely violated the Voting Rights Act, the Legislature drew new maps that a federal court rejected as non-compliant. A court-appointed special master drew the maps used in the 2024 elections instead.
2026 — Redistricting, again
Monday’s session follows the Supreme Court’s decision in Louisiana v. Callais. The Legislature will prepare contingency maps and special primary election procedures in case the court lifts the injunction blocking Alabama from redrawing its districts before 2030.
The pattern
Three distinct forces have driven Alabama’s special sessions over the past decade. The Bentley-era sessions were born from a structural budget collapse the Legislature couldn’t or wouldn’t fix through new revenue.
The Ivey-era spending sessions used tightly controlled special sessions to move high-dollar legislation quickly with minimal floor debate.
And the redistricting sessions have been driven by court deadlines and Supreme Court decisions, with the Legislature’s maps rejected or overridden in two or three attempts.
Sawyer Knowles is a capitol reporter for Yellowhammer News. You may contact him at [email protected].
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