Still Seeing Red Over Snapper

Past red snapper managment actions have failed to effectively estimate and limit bycatch and end overfishing, as evidenced by the recent stock assessment information: red snapper are now estimated to be at 3% of historical abundance.

The Reef Fish Committee of the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council (Committee) discussed potential management measures for the depleted red snapper stock on March 21, 2006 in Mobile, Alabama. Unfortunately, results were problematic.

First, the document that the Council was provided to review and discuss was different than the one that went out to public comment during the scoping process of amendment development. The National Marine Fisheries Service established a new process for creation of Gulf Council documents that is a cooperative effort between agency and Council staff. This new process, called the Interdisciplinary Planning Team (IPT) review has provided a more collaborative and cooperative approach to fisheries management and ultimately more streamlined and more complete Council products. However, it seems in an effort to streamline 27/14, the IPT actually re-wrote it, interjecting opinions and removing or editing options without Council members input. This is inappropriate. The law requires that the general public be allowed to participate in management of marine resources that we all share. Many people took the time to read and comment on 27/14 during the scoping process through written letters and also attendance at scoping hearings throughout the Gulf. It is important that the Council ensure the public process is not discounted by IPT efforts.

We are just coming out of the scoping phase of the process and therefore it is the time to be inclusive and open to new ideas and provide a reasonable range of management alternatives for discussion and review. The new 27/14 options paper did not fit with this. Rather, discussions argued for a certain management action rather than objectively evaluating all. The document randomly rejects reasonable options based on past actions and justifies inaction by touting uncertainty. This is problematic.

Also, it is a great disservice to the public and raises questions about NMFS control of the Council process that the scoping document as presented during scoping hearings was not reviewed, discussed and acted on during a public Council meeting by the Council.

Additionally, the document provided to the Council by the IPT was drastically whittled down to minimal management actions during the Committee meeting. NMFS and the Council admits that the driving force behind the development schedule for 27/14 is the need to establish a new total allowable catch (TAC) for 2007 before a new program for individual fishing quotas (IFQs) is implemented next red snapper season. This is reasonable in that knowing what amount of fish there is to be allocated through individual shares (or individual quotas...thus IFQ) should be established before the IFQ program is created. However, the need for a new TAC should not overshadow the need for a comprehensive long term red snapper plan with short term and future rebuilding goals. Rushing through and creating a lengthy yet largely meaningless document again is time consuming and ineffective. There are so many important items waiting for Council attention that a more strategic approach on red snapper should be followed. A better plan would be for a new red snapper TAC be set through an interim or framework process and a full red snapper plan with options to effectively address overfishing, bycatch reduction, standardized reporting, data collection and other legal requirements be developed in conjunction with or following the TAC that includes a reasonable range of management alternatives.

Specifically, management actions excluded from the document were: seasonal-area closures, bycatch quotas, mandatory use of circle hooks and other bycatch rehabilitation tools (e.g. venting), identifying approved gear for red snapper catch (hook and line and spearguns) and limiting the number of hooks per line. Items left to address bycatch reduction are reducing or eliminating commercial and recreational size limits and changing BRD criteria. The BRD criteria might be moved to a separate framework action to move it faster than 27/14.

Management actions that GRN recommended and are not included are: mandatory recreational catch and bycatch reporting or federal recreational licenses, subtraction of quota overages from the next year’s allocation, consistent seasons for recreational and commercial sectors and consistent seasons for species caught as bycatch of one another (like vermilion snapper and red snapper).

The current 27/14 is again not adequate to fully address required management for red snapper to prevent overfishing and rebuild the stock in the Gulf of Mexico.

Marianne Cufone is GRN's Fisheries Consultant