In
August, the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council (GOMFMC)
met in Baton Rouge to consider new regulations to rebuild
red snapper populations. However, the council (composed
of representatives from management agencies and commercial
and recreational fishing interests) voted 10 to 5 to postpone
any decisions until at least the end of 2006. The main reason
for the delay was uncertainty about how last year’s
hurricanes have altered the fishery and the overall harvest.
The
GOMFMC is one of eight regional fishery management councils
in the United States. The Gulf council manages the fisheries
in the Exclusive Economic Zone (federal waters) of the Gulf
of Mexico. States with voting representation on the council
include Texas, Louisiana, Florida, Alabama and Mississippi.
At the
August meeting, the council considered a recent study showing
that existing measures to rebuild the red snapper population
are not working. The stock is at only 3 percent of historical
population levels, and “rate of removal” each
year is still too high to allow the population to recover.
Red snapper stocks have been considered over-fished since
1989.
The
council postponed decisions on a subcommittee proposal that
included several options: a two-fish bag limit (now four);
a shorter season (May 15 through Sept. 30, instead of April
15 through Oct. 31); a 14-inch-minimum size limit for recreational
anglers (16 inches now); a 13-inch commercial minimum size
limit; or adjusting the quota for recreational and commercial
fishermen. The council has also delayed addressing the loss
of juvenile red snapper to shrimp trawling.
Fish
excluder devices (FEDs) have been required in trawler nets
in federal waters to achieve a 40 percent reduction in red
snapper mortality from trawls (required by the rebuilding
model). However, the actual number of juvenile snapper saved
has been closer to 12 percent, and decisions about new gear
requirements and/or closed areas to trawling must be made.
One possibility would be closing certain areas to trawling
after a specified number of “days at sea” are
exceeded by the fleet.
The
idea behind the reduction in size limits is to reduce mortality
on “released” undersized fish. Numerous studies
have shown (and many anglers have witnessed) that most snapper
that are caught at depth have little chance for survival.
Damage to internal organs from decompression is often severe
in fish caught at the depths frequented by snapper. Anglers
have often wondered how killing several undersized fish
for each retained fish could possibly be good for the population.
By reducing the size limit to 14-inches, anglers would be
retaining most of the fish that they now see floating off
dead.
However,
many recreational fishing groups are vehemently opposed
to the possible two-fish bag limit. They argue that a limit
that low will reduce interest to the point that few trips
will be made. Many people can’t justify a long run
in a private boat or the cost of a charter unless they feel
they have the chance to catch more than two fish.
At the
same time, conservation groups are incensed that the council
is still postponing the steps needed to rebuild snapper
populations. The timetables for rebuilding overfished stocks
are established in the Magnuson-Stevens Act, but in the
case of red snapper in the Gulf, these requirements have
not been met.
NOAA
Fisheries officials have indicated that federal regulators
may have to step in where the council has stopped. Overall,
the recreational and commercial fishing take of red snapper
needs to be reduced by 35 percent and trawl bycatch mortality
needs to drop 28 percent to get the fishery in line with
requirements. Federal regulators must comply with Magnuson-Stevens
Fishery Conservation and Management Act rules that put restoration
of depleted fish stocks on a strict timetable, though some
consideration may be given to economic and social impacts.
No matter
which options become regulations, it is certain that the
courts will be involved. Representatives of both the shrimp
industry and charter fishing groups have promised to pursue
court intervention if the proposed regulations that most
affect their livelihoods are implemented. All the while,
environmental groups are demanding immediate federal action
to protect red snapper populations.
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