Coastal Conservation Association (CCA)

Red Snapper Conservation Stalled

HOUSTON, TX – Coastal Conservation Association today expressed its profound disappointment in the continuing reluctance of the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to address shrimp trawl bycatch as the primary cause for the decline of red snapper in the Gulf of Mexico.

That reluctance culminated at the most recent meeting of the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council with the Council electing to delay any action plan for the recovery of red snapper until January 2007. NMFS’ refusal to support the inclusion of measures to reduce shrimp trawl bycatch as a part of a proposed red snapper recovery plan left the Council with no choice but to postpone any action.

“It is virtually impossible for the Council to set red snapper limits for recreational anglers when they don’t know what the shrimp trawl bycatch reduction for juvenile red snapper is,” said Fred Miller, chairman of CCA’s National Government Relations Committee. “You have to deal with both sides of the equation at the same time.”

Red snapper populations remain at a mere fraction of their natural levels as a result of decades of unchecked shrimp trawl bycatch, which kills millions of juveniles in every year class of Gulf red snapper before they grow large enough to be taken on a hook. That bycatch is the target of a lawsuit filed by Coastal Conservation Association against NMFS last year seeking to force significant regulations to recover red snapper stocks. For much of the troubled history of red snapper, the shrimp industry has avoided significant regulation relative to its impact on this important commercial and recreational fishery.

“Since this fishery was first identified as severely overfished in 1988, recreational red snapper anglers have seen their seasons shortened and bag limits tightened while the shrimp industry has largely been allowed to dodge their responsibility for this mess,” said Miller. “Enough is enough.”

CCA last year petitioned the U.S. Secretary of Commerce to put emergency measures into effect to end the excessive bycatch of red snapper by the Gulf of Mexico shrimp fleet. That petition was denied despite almost 8,000 supporting comments from CCA members and other conservationists around the Gulf Coast.

The current lawsuit filed by CCA seeks to achieve significant shrimp trawl bycatch reduction on the order of 60-80 percent through measures such as bycatch quotas, closed areas, seasonal closures and meaningful reduction in shrimping effort.

“NMFS’ own studies show that shrimp trawl bycatch is far and away the single largest source of mortality for juvenile red snapper in the Gulf of Mexico and until that is properly addressed, this species will continue to be at risk,” said David Cummins, CCA president.

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