Decision avoids bottom closures, but promises more of the same for frustrated red snapper anglers
NOAA Fisheries issued a final rule today on Amendment 59 to the Fishery Management Plan for the Snapper-Grouper Fishery of the South Atlantic that largely avoids draconian management measures for the red snapper fishery that were originally proposed in the amendment. While the final rule fails to improve access to a healthy red snapper population or address glaring deficiencies in recreational angling data, it does withdraw a threatened bottom closure off the east coast of Florida and sets a two-day recreational red snapper season in 2025 on July 11-12.
“Fending off closures and scraping for a two-day season is the best anglers can hope for under federal management. The rule today is not a particularly satisfactory ending to this chapter of red snapper management, but it does avoid the worst that could have happened, and it took an enormous amount of engagement and outcry from the angling public and from elected officials to achieve even this,” said Bill Bird, chairman of the CCA National Government Relations Committee. “The best that can be said is that the final rule sets the stage for management to shift to the states so we can leave the erratic uncertainty of federal management behind.”
Secretarial Amendment 59 was the culmination of a roughly two-year battle between NOAA and the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council over the red snapper fishery, with disputes over everything from NOAA’s suspect recreational data gathering program to the lack of information on the current state of the red snapper population.
The long, frustrating history of red snapper has garnered increasing attention from elected officials and resulted in a groundswell of support in the region for shifting management of the popular sport fishery to the states. Recently, the governors of Florida, Georgia and South Carolina signed a joint letter to U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick requesting that the states take over management of red snapper, and almost the entire Congressional delegation of South Carolina signed a similar letter to Sec. Lutnick seeking the same solution. In April, the state of Georgia budgeted almost $350,000 to establish a reef/migratory data collection program that could support future state management of offshore fisheries.
“The Gulf Coast and West Coast states have had similar, negative experiences with federal fisheries management and elected to take on a greater role in the management of the fisheries off their coasts with much success,” said Bird. “It is encouraging that the South Atlantic region is moving in this direction. While it will take a lot of work and investment, we believe management by the states will ultimately result in better data and greater transparency and trust with the angling public. It is a much better alternative to the heavy-handed roller coaster ride of the federal management system.”
