Gulf Council addresses red snapper sector separation

The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council recently met in Biloxi, MS to discuss a number of fishery issues, including recreational red snapper sector separation and accountability measures.

During the meeting, the Council reviewed recommendations made by its Red Snapper Advisory Panel. Council staff also presented public hearing and public comment summaries, along with a revised Reef Fish Amendment 40 – Sector Separation document for Council discussion.

The Reef Fish Amendment 40 divides the recreational red snapper sector into two distinct components – a private angling component and a for-hire component.

The Council, made up of state appointees and federal officials, had a lengthy discussion about sector separation, specifically Action 2 – Allocation of the Recreational Red Snapper Quota between the Components of the Recreational Sector.

The Council’s preferred alternative was originally Alternative 4, which would allocate the recreational red snapper quota based on average landings between 1996 and 2012. Federal for-hire and private angling allocations would be 47.1% and 52.9% respectively.

Public Comment Heard

After hearing public comment, the Council decided to change its preferred alternative to Alternative 7, which would allocate the recreational red snapper quota based on 50% of the average percentages landed by each component between 1986 and 2013 and 50% of the average percentages landed by each component between 2006 and 2013. The year 2010 was excluded from the percentage averages due to the Gulf oil spill.

The new preferred alternative would result in a federal for-hire allocation of 44% and a private angling allocation of 56%.

The Council is expected to take final action on Amendment 40 during its October meeting in Mobile, Alabama.

In June, the Council initiated a temporary rule to establish a recreational red snapper annual catch target using a 20% buffer to the recreational quota, after a recent court ruling found that National Marine Fisheries Service did not have adequate accountability measures in place to keep the recreational harvest of red snapper within the quota.

During the Biloxi meeting, held at the Beau Rivage Resort and Casino, the Council permanently established the annual catch target and initiated an overage adjustment that deducts any overages from the recreational quota from the next year’s quota when red snapper is under a rebuilding plan. The Framework Action will be transmitted to the Secretary of Commerce for approval and implementation.

“I’d certainly like to see us figure out a better way to handle the red snapper issue in the recreational fishery,” said Roy Crabtree, Ph.D., the regional administrator of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries Service’s Southeast Region Office overseeing Gulf fisheries. “We have other issues with the recreational fisheries beyond red snapper. We have to figure out how to operate under annual catch limits and how to apply those to the recreational fisheries.”

Council’s Other Issues

Amidst all its work on red snapper, the Council did find time to address other pressing issues facing Gulf species.

The Council reviewed a framework action it initiated after the National Marine Fisheries Service announced a 2014 in-season closure for red grouper. The closure is the result of the 2013 annual catch limit being exceeded. The framework action aims to reduce the likelihood of future in-season closures by reducing the bag limit and/or establishing a fixed recreational closed season during the year to prevent the season from closing early.

The Council also reviewed a scoping document that considers modifying the red drum closure in federal waters to give offshore access to recreational anglers. A greater amberjack stock assessment was recently reviewed by the Council’s Scientific and
Statistical Committee, who determined that greater amberjack was overfished and experiencing overfishing and that the stock did not meet the 10-year rebuilding plan that ended in 2012. In order to address this issue, the Council reviewed a draft framework action that considers modifying the greater amberjack allowable harvest and other management measures. The document contains three management actions: 

• Modifications to annual catch limits and annual catch targets; 
• Modifications to the recreational size limits and closed seasons; and 
• Modifications to the commercial trip limit.

The Council also received an update on the referenda requirements for Amendment 36 – Red Snapper IFQ Modifications. A referendum is required if it wants to consider auctions for IFQ shares. It agreed to move forward with developing a scoping document for Amendment 36, excluding any auction alternatives.

Red snapper reallocation suspended in favor of recreational management solutions

Amendment 28 deferred by Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council

Citing the need for management changes in the recreational fishery and overwhelming opposition to the reallocation by Gulf residents, the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council voted Thursday to defer action on Amendment 28, a proposal that would take a portion of the red snapper fishery from Gulf seafood providers for the exclusive use of recreational fishing.

The Council’s vote means it with defer any further action on Amendment 28 until it has completed work on another proposal, “Amendment 40.” This proposal lays the groundwork for new management options for both private anglers and federally permitted recreational charter operators who provide access to recreational anglers through chartered offshore trips.

“We are glad to see the Gulf Council focusing on ideas that could help the recreational fishery,” said John Schmidt, a commercial fisherman from Madeira Beach, Florida and Share the Gulf co-chair. “Share the Gulf was built on the idea that if we manage the entire fishery well, we can share it fairly and sustainably.”

Amendment 28 I its current form (Alternative 5) would take nearly half a million pounds of red snapper out of the commercial seafood market next year alone and shift the majority of future increases to the recreational sector. This is in exchange for adding maybe one day to a nine-day recreational fishing season. Red snapper is a shared fishery and the total allowable catch is already split almost evenly between the commercial and recreational fishermen. Unfortunately, despite that even split, anglers are stuck in a failed management system that leads to shorter and shorter seasons every year, frustrating everyone.

“Reallocation is a false promise to recreational fishermen,” said Capt. Shane Cantrell, a recreational charter captain from Galveston, Texas and Share the Gulf member. “The recreational fishery needs a new management plan and the Council’s action Thursday takes this divisive issue off the table so we can focus on real solutions to the problems recreational fishermen are facing.”

The Gulf Council has received thousands of comments over the last three months in opposition to Amendment 28. A recent review of those comments by Share the Gulf showed that Gulf residents opposed reallocation by a nearly 3-1 margin.

While Amendment 28 has been deferred for now, Share the Gulf and its members will continue to educate Gulf leaders on the downsides of reallocation and work to promote solutions to the failed federal recreational management system.

“Reallocation will hurt Gulf seafood providers and consumers while doing nothing to help the recreational fishery,” said Buddy Guindon, a commercial fisherman from Galveston, Texas and Share the Gulf member. “We need the Council to permanently stop work on Amendment 28 and fully focus its efforts on solutions not fish grabs.”