RED SNAPPER - defined

The red snapper, Lutjanus campechanus, is a reef fish found off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of The Americas and the Gulf of Mexico. The original name in Latin American Spanish is Huachinango or Pargo.

The potential for a COMPLETE RED SNAPPER CLOSURE for both commercial and recreational harvest, comes on the heels of the Secretary of Commerce’s recent approval of Amendment 16, including a yearly four month closure (January through April) for all shallow water grouper species, to address overfishing of these species, for both the commercial and recreational sectors.   Amendment 16 became effective, July 29, 2009.  In addition, reductions were established for recreational bag limits of gag, black, and the grouper aggregate.  Also included in Amendment 16 is a complete 5 month closure (November through March) for recreational harvest of vermilion snapper and a 50% reduction in the bag limit from current regulations (10 fish to 5 fish) during the open season.  In addition, a reduction in the allowable commercial quotas was also implemented.  Both recreational and commercial sectors will be required to use dehooking tools aboard their vessels.   Note, that when public comments were solicited from NOAA in regards to Amendment 16, less than 200 comments from a total of FOUR states were submitted to NOAA through the Federal Register, even though these four states are comprised of virtually hundreds of thousands of recreational fishermen and a significant number of commercial, and for-hire/head-boat fishermen. 

Let your voice be heard! Let your governor, Mr. Charlie Crist, who has hopes of becoming Florida's next US Senator know how this will impact the very state he currently represents and hopes to represent in the US  Senate in the very near future. Click here.

            NOAA  has published a proposed Interim Rule (74 FR 31906), to the Federal Register, for the which the public comment period ended on August 5, 2009.  NOAA’s intent is to implement interim (emergency) management measures (which must be approved by the Secretary of Commerce, after review of the pubic comment period, which ended August 5, 2009, to be effective and in place by October 2009) to reduce alleged overfishing of red snapper in the South Atlantic, until the completion of Amendment 17A, which will include permanent measures to end the alleged overfishing of red snapper, both commercially and recreationally, by a complete closure of the harvest of red snapper for an undetermined period of time.  According to current data in the Sedar 15 Report, the closure of the red snapper fishery could be as long as of 25 to 35 years in order to rebuild the red snapper stocks to a sustainable level to prevent overfishing.  Although the comments you are making now are in regards to the one year emergency interim measures to be implemented, remember, it is the intention of the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council to have permanent measures in place, before the interim rule expires (one year from October 2009), so there is no gap in the ability to keep the entire fishery closed for the harvest of red snapper.

            Dr. Roy Crabtree, Regional Administrator with the National Marine Fishery Service Southeast Regional Office stated at the open public forum sessions in Wilmington N.C. (Dec 2008), Jekyll Island (March 2009), and Stuart (June 2009), that “this could be one of the greatest impacts to the fishing industry  that any proposed rule or Amendment has had on any fishery since the development of Councils under the Magnuson-Stevens Act (MSA) to manage our nation’s fishery, but to what extent it will actually impact the people who rely on this species to make a living is completely unknown”.  At the present time, Dr. Crabtree stated that “necessary funding is not available to conduct updated economic studies (as required under the MSA) and the only solution to under funding of these projects is for the fishermen themselves to lobby their congressmen for additional funds to be provided to NOAA in order to address possible economic impacts from the closure of the red snapper fishery”.

            It is very interesting to note that in the Draft Environmental Assessment, submitted to the Federal Register as part of the documents required to propose the use of an interim rule, NOAA states on page 91 of this document that “the relatively minor apparent importance of red snapper as a target species in the South Atlantic, as demonstrated by the low incidence of either target or catch effort…and ranking within bags or total harvest, suggests there is little reason to expect widespread reduction in fishing trips from historic levels, in lieu of continued fishing for other species, in the event of the imposition of a zero bag limit for red snapper”.  The use of the words “relatively minor apparent” and “suggests” do not seem to coincide with Dr. Crabtree’s former comments in regards to the possibility that this proposed complete closure could have one of the greatest impacts to the fishing industry the Council has ever seen in any of the 8 fishing regions in the United States.  In addition, they do not seem to back-up the testimonies (also required under the MSA) given at these past meetings from virtually hundreds of fishermen (both recreational and commercial), along with other individuals associated with the red snapper fishing industry who may be impacted by a complete closure, all who stated that this proposed closure would be a complete devastation to many of  their livelihoods.

            In summary, if you do not comment in regards to the impending use of the interim rule for an immediate one year closure of the red snapper fishery, you may simply lose your privilege to harvest this species forever.  Do not forget that it is the intent of the Council to have Amendment 17A in place by the time the interim rule expires in October 2010 (if approved by the Secretary of Commerce), which will continue to prohibit the harvest of red snapper, both commercially and recreationally, most likely for a period of 25 to 35 years.  In addition, as part of permanent measures (Amendment 17A) to end the alleged overfishing of red snapper, large areas of the South Atlantic will be closed to ALL BOTTOM fishing, to prevent by-catch mortality of the red snapper.  Some of these proposed alternatives include no bottom fishing 19 miles seaward of  81 degrees W if you are fishing off-shore of the Jacksonville, Florida area.  That is just one example of what is being proposed as a permanent alternative under Amendment 17A.  Now is the time to comment.

Let your voice be heard. Let Mr. Charlie Crist know how the residents of Florida, and our neighbors to the north in NC, SC, and GA feel about our ability to fish for red snapper.