![]() For example, when they set the 2017 recreational red snapper season, they estimated that 81% of the annual catch target would be caught during state seasons, leaving less than 600,000 pounds for the private recreational federal season. NOAA Fisheries had to account for this harvest when setting federal seasons. As states extended their recreational red snapper seasons starting around 2012, a large fraction of the total harvest came from state waters.If recreational harvests exceed the annual quota, any excess is deducted from the quota for the following fishing season.Catching larger fish means that fishermen harvest their annual quota (measured in pounds) more quickly. The average red snapper is now more than twice the average size in 2007, increasing from 3.3 pounds (2007) to 8.11 pounds (2018).Catch rates more than doubled since 2007 due to an increase in numbers of both fishermen and fish.Here are some of the factors driving what the regulations will be for 2022: There are separate seasons for private anglers fishing from their own boats and for those fishing with charter captains and on headboats, provided the captains hold the federal red snapper endorsement. From there to 200 miles out, federal rules hold sway. Still, there’s a very large “bank” of fish that can replenish these spots if given time.Īs in the past, the state waters in the Gulf are defined as those extending out to nine nautical miles offshore. The SAFMC’s next quarterly meeting is set for Jekyll Island, Georgia, beginning March 6 and continuing through the 10th.Lots of keeper size fish mean most anglers fill their limits quickly when the season opens. The Council doesn’t have any wiggle room here, he noted. Overfishing is occurring on a fish that you had a three-day season or a two-day season, and now you won’t have any season.” “I don’t think you guys really understand what’s going on here,” Johnson said to the other anglers. Augustine fishing guide Robert Johnson spent time, several years earlier, working on fisheries regulations through the SAFMC and witnessed the process close-up. “This is meant to be one portion of a collective effort of many different things going on right now, many different projects that are trying to not just change the limit, but also change the way the Council is managing red snapper,” Schmidtke said. The amendment would also mandate only single-hook rigs could be used in the fishery, in the hopes of slowing the process. If implemented in time, the amendment all but ends any chance of a recreational red snapper season in 2023, as there will be too many dead discards counting against the limit. ![]() If you look at it, the whole reason everybody is considering this to be overfished is because of data that has been shown to be skewed data, inappropriate data, false data.” “However, I think we need to go back and look for the original garbage-in, garbage-out data that has sent this terrible snowball rolling. “This Magnuson-Stevens Act, I understand it’s been in play for quite a long time,” said Darrin Willingham, Vice President of the Jacksonville Offshore Sport Fishing Club. Many anglers who spoke at the Jacksonville scoping meeting vocally rejected the data presented. Other alternatives included even lower limits. The recreational annual catch limit declines from 29,656 fish to 19,119. The commercial annual catch limit goes from 124,815 pounds whole weight to 77,016, in one year. In Alternative 2, the acceptable biological catch number drops from 53,000 fish to 28,000. The SAFMC’s Scientific and Statistical Committee made its recommendation from five alternatives. Within the amendment, the Council must approve several actions. Stock assessments show red snapper in the South Atlantic to be mostly quite young, with few fish older than five or six years.Įverything tracks back to a weight-based metric called maximum sustainable yield, or what the fishery can afford to lose. It takes about 34 2-year-old red snapper to produce the same eggs as one 10-year-old red snapper, for instance. In bringing back the stock, the goal isn’t only abundance, but also a sustainable population as seen through different ages. The amendment is supposed to come up for a vote at the Council’s March meeting. The SAFMC is in the process of approving Amendment 35, part of an effort to reduce dead discards of red snapper, which is causing the fish to be overfished and undergoing overfishing, according to regulatory standards.
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