Finally some much needed good news for Anglers and Kayak Fisherman along the Gulf Coast.  According to the Alabama Department of Conservation, today all the waters previously closed by Deepwater Horizon oil spill have been reopened to fishing.  Below is the Press Release.

Two months after the ongoing oil leakage from an offshore drilling rig owned by BP forced the cancellation of one event, the IFA Redfish Tour Presented by Cabela's and the IFA Kayak Tour Presented by Hobie Fishing announce a second modification to the Louisiana Division schedule. Slated for August 28-29, the final regular-season event for the Louisiana Division has been moved to Delacroix, La., amid concerns regarding host-site availability, lodging and other logistical necessities.

The Inshore Fishing Association (IFA) regretfully announces that the ongoing oil leakage from a BP-owned offshore drilling rig has forced the cancellation of the IFA Redfish Tour Presented by Cabela's and the IFA Kayak Tour Presented by Hobie Fishing at Empire, Louisiana, scheduled for June 19-20.

Already scheduled to be the shortest red snapper season on record, the 2010 season for all practical purposes could be over after a single day, Tuesday's opening day.

At 5 p.m. on opening day, with the oil spill continuing to spread, NOAA Fisheries has closed federal waters south of Alabama's territorial 3-mile limit, which puts virtually all of the productive red snapper waters off limits to anglers. With oil coming ashore at Dauphin Island, Conservation Commissioner Barnett Lawley shut down state waters to commercial and recreational fishing from Dauphin Island west to the Mississippi-Alabama state line.

Between the ongoing oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico and the vast areas of state and federal waters now closed to fishing, without immediate financial assistance, many of the region's recreational fishing-dependent businesses may not be in business by the 4th of July.

A post-Memorial Day survey of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida recreational fishing-dependent business owners, conducted by the American Sportfishing Association (ASA), found that over 85 percent of the owners surveyed won't survive the oil leak's fallout without immediate financial assistance. Compared to Memorial Day 2009, overall sales were down an average of 47 percent. In Louisiana, which has borne the brunt of the oil leak's impact, sales were down an average of 55 percent with some businesses reporting sales as much as 90 percent off from last year's Memorial Day weekend. In Florida, sales were down an average of 35 percent, even though the oil leak is still making its way to shore. The majority of the survey respondents are located within five to 25 miles of the coast.

Anglers from across the Gulf Coast and surrounding regions will converge on Panama City Beach, Fla., for the second Gulf Coast Division regular-season event for both the IFA Redfish Tour Presented by Cabela's and the IFA Kayak Fishing Tour Presented by Hobie Fishing. Saturday's IFA Redfish Tour event, which will launch from St. Andrews Marina, and Sunday's IFA Kayak Fishing Tour, are the second of three regular-season tournaments for the Gulf Coast Division, one of six divisions of IFA Tour events running from the Carolinas to Texas.

Now that the Deepwater Horizon is being described as the largest spill in United States history, the sense of immediacy is back in the communities around the Gulf of Mexico. Out in the leak area, however, the immediacy has not faded, despite a sixteen hour break in the "top-kill" efforts to stop a leak now estimated at 12,000 to 19,000 barrels of oil daily.