The Nation - News from Dec. 24, 1986

The popularity of the Cajun specialty dish blackened redfish is forcing a ban on commercial fishing for the red drum fish in federal waters in the Gulf of Mexico during 1987, the Commerce Department said. The Louisiana specialty dish was blamed for recent alarmingly high harvests of red drum, the fish most commonly used in the dish. Commercial landings of red drum from state and federal waters rose from 2.7 million pounds in 1980 to 8.3 million pounds in the first six months of 1986, officials said.