Gulf Red Snapper - Where are we now?

THAT WAS THEN…

THIS IS NOW…

A federal judge ruled recently that the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) violated the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act by failing to implement measures to rebuild red snapper stocks in the Gulf of Mexico including addressing the harm to red snapper caused by shrimp fishing.

U. S. District Judge Melinda Harmon noted that the Department of Commerce (through NMFS) had repeatedly extended the time that it needed to rebuild red snapper stocks, but that NMFS’ efforts still did not result in a plan that would have even a 50 percent chance of succeeding in rebuilding fish stocks. Judge Harmon also found that the facts relied upon by NMFS to support its plan were unreasonable or unwarranted based on the information available to the government.

CCA initiated the suit and then forced the consolidation of other actions filed later to the Houston Federal District Court. “We wanted the case heard in a court that was close to the recreational fishery being affected” said CCA President David Cummins.   “We are pleased with the result.” NMFS must now put in place a plan by December 12^th that will rebuild the red snapper fishery and stop overfishing. This can not be done on the backs of recreational fisherman alone. The Court correctly concluded that the measures must address shrimp bycatch as well. The decision is a victory in CCA’s long-running fight to have NMFS do something about shrimp trawls bycatch other than to assume the industry would go away in time.   

 There is no escaping the fact that red snapper stocks are severely depressed as a result of many factors, including shrimp trawl bycatch.  In the last ten years the shrimp industry has gone through a massive reduction as a result of increased operating costs and reduced pricing of its product. Today, the industry has about half of the vessels it had two decades ago. These reductions have not been enough to reduce the shrimp industry’s impact on juvenile red snapper to acceptable levels.  In part that is a result of the poor performance of bycatch reduction devices, which were required in the late 90’s but only achieved a reduction in bycatch of 12%, instead of the anticipated 40-60 % predicted by NMFS. In the last ten years the directed fishery has enjoyed a 9 million pound TAC and because of increased recreational pressure has had to reduce the bag limit and season over that period. The net result of all of this is that despite measures being in place the stock is in much worse shape than many scientist thought.   

 WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?

  Near-term reductions in the total allowable catch for commercial and recreational fishermen are inevitable as a result of decades of misguided management by federal regulators. NMFS's interim rule just published for 2007 sets the TAC at 6.5 million pounds and sets a daily creel limit of two fish per angler.

Management plans currently being considered by the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council call for a 5 million pound total allowable catch (TAC) for 2008-2009, a recreational bag limit of two fish per day with a 14-inch minimum size, and a shortened season. After 2009, the TAC will increase if measures being proposed by the Council to reduce shrimp bycatch are implemented by NMFS. Those measures include include a specific, targeted reduction of shrimping effort which benefits juvenile snappers, achieved by the use of improved bycatch reduction devices and a closure of shrimping in the critical 10-30 fathom range in the central and western Gulf from June to mid-July.

The TAC reductions are going to be painful for all recreational fishermen but especially so for the charterboat operations that depend on this fishery.    

 What are we doing?

 The Coastal Conservation Association has been pursuing a four-part program for the red snapper fishery.

 1.   Forcing NMFS to address shrimp trawl bycatch is the critical first step and the Court’s decision has set that in motion.

2.  The fishing community needs to address post release mortality. CCA is working with researchers, scientists and regulators to address release mortality in the reef fish fishery for both the commercial and recreational sectors and finding ways to reduce it to the greatest extent possible.

3.   In order to meet the Magnuson Stevens rebuilding and overfishing requirements we will need a realistic recovery plan that will lead to real increases in population abundance and associated increases in the allowed catch. CCA is working with the Council and NMFS to develop such a plan. In the short term, however, that will cause the TAC to go down to levels not seen in over a decade.  

4.  The fourth step is to reduce the number of commercial enterprises targeting red snapper, including commercial fishermen and charterboats, through buyouts and consolidation. Too many boats chasing too few fish creates waste and inefficiency. By reducing the number of permitted boats, the remaining boats will enjoy a better business environment and red snapper will have a much greater chance to fully recover.

 THE FUTURE

Red snapper have been mismanaged by federal regulators for decades. CCA’s recent legal victory puts this fishery on the right course but it is only the first step. CCA has consistently preached to the managers that all sources of mortality must be considered and dealt with concurrently in order to get a plan that works. Now they have been ordered to do it by the Court. That plan has to work, and NMFS can no longer ignore the inefficiency of devices to reduce bycatch. The directed fishery has to be right sized. The commercial red snapper fishery can do that to itself through it individual fishing quota system. The charter boat sector needs some external assistance from all of us. Coupled with this is a need to look at an antiquated allocation of the directed fishery. Lastly fishermen have to address their own wasteful practices. If we can make this work, we can all enjoy a healthy red snapper fishery and a viable shrimp for years to come.