Misinformation spreads in war of words over Gulf Red Snapper allocation

Misinformation has spread in both traditional and online media about the current proposed Red Snapper allocation change under consideration by the Gulf of Mexico Fisheries Management Council.

The Louisiana Restaurant Association (LRA), as well as the four other Gulf State restaurant associations, have come under fire for allegedly playing an integral role in lining up against the recreational fishermen in favor of letting commercial fishermen ship “as much as 80 percent of the commercial red snapper harvest out of the country.”

The source of the misinformation has yet to be identified, but it has rapidly spread from Louisiana to Florida to Kansas City to Capitol Hill.

According to a spokesperson for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), fishery trade categories are based on Harmonized Tariff Schedule for imports and the US Census Bureau ‘Schedule B’ for exports. Currently, there is no specific breakout for Red Snapper due to the lack of individual trade data because international exports are so small. As a result Red Snapper trade is listed in the ‘other’ category, not separated out.

Where does Gulf Red Snapper go?

A majority of Gulf Red Snapper ends up on the plates of more than 56 million residents of the Gulf States, as well as millions more on the East Coast.

“We are on target to buy more than a million pounds, or 20 percent, of the total Gulf Red Snapper harvest,” said Houston-based Sysco Louisiana Seafood chairman Jim Gossen, who sits on the board of the Gulf Seafood Institute (GSI). “We sell 99.5 percent of that to our customers within the state of Texas, and none is shipped overseas.”

The percentage of Gulf Red Snapper leaving the country is less than five percent, with a majority of that going to Montreal and Toronto, which has a craving for the prized Gulf seafood.

“I ship approximately 70,000 pounds of red snapper to Canada over the course of a year,” said GSI’s board member David Krebs, president of Florida’s Ariel Seafood, a Fish Trax member and one of the largest suppliers of snapper out of country. “Because of transportation restrictions, the fish is mainly enjoyed on the East Coast and Gulf States. Less than five percent of the total catch leaves the country.”

The Gulf of Mexico Fisheries Management Council is currently considering Reef Fish Amendment No. 28, Chapter 2—Management Alternatives. The amendment alters traditional allocation of red snapper between the commercial fishing industry and the recreational fishermen.

Two alternatives are currently before the Council on the issue of allocation.

Alternative 1 is based on an aggregate red snapper quota of 11 million pounds; commercial fishermen would be allocated 5.610 million and recreational fishermen 5.390 million, effectively keeping the current 51/49 split.

The Council has thrown its support behind Alternative 5, which would shift allocation percentages to 75 percent recreational and 25 percent commercial for aggregate red snapper quota greater than 9.12 million pounds.

Based on an aggregate red snapper quota of 11 million pounds, commercial fishermen would be allocated 5.126 million and recreational 5.874 million, effective reducing commercial share by approximately eight percent, or more than 500,000 pounds.

Stan Harris

The LRA, along with the Texas Restaurant Association, Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association, Mississippi Hospitality and Restaurant Association and the Alabama Restaurant Association, has thrown support for the Gulf Council to adopt Alternative 1 that would keep the current split ratio. None of the Gulf Restaurant Associations favor taking away any current quota from recreational fishermen. In addition, the Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board passed a resolution encouraging the Gulf Council to adopt Alternative 1.  

“Our organization has been sensitive to the inconsistencies in recreational red snapper management practices and its impact on the recreational and charter segments,” said Stan Harris, LRA President/CEO. “Our testimony before the Gulf Council implored council members to consider that any increase in total catch allocation retain the same 51/49 sector breakdown that currently exists. The LRA is not opposing “the recreational sector,” just simply asking for maintaining these historical percentages.”

According to the Gulf Council documents, the recreational sector has exceeded its catch limit six out of the last seven years; with the only year not being exceeded was during the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. In addition, the National Marine Fisheries Service, as well as the Gulf Council, has continuously failed to provide an accurate count of the recreational harvest.

Unlike the commercial sector, which counts each fish caught, the recreational sector has continuously refused to participate in any type of program that would accurately log the exact numbers caught.

A recent report published by the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, a D.C. lobbyist and advocacy group representing approximately 400,000 saltwater fishermen, stated there are approximately 11 million recreational saltwater fishermen in the U.S. – roughly the population of New York and Los Angeles. Of those less than half a million are directly represented by any recreational saltwater fishing organization.

Recreational sidesteps data collection

Recreational fishing organizations have refused efforts to accurately record the recreational catch by inferring data collection is already in place.

Federal recreational saltwater fisheries are open access. A fisherman, owning a dingy or a yacht, needs only a license to fish in federal waters; there is no accountability, or enforcement. Commercial fishermen in the same waters are held to a different standard, accurately monitoring their catch and subject to enforcement.

Recreational side monitoring only occurs in state waters where catch times, slot and bag limits are often set. These state programs are the basis of the claim that recreational catch is being monitored.

Recreational groups have also cited the economic impact of recreational fishermen as a reason for increasing catch limits. Tens of thousands of recreational anglers annually venture into the five Gulf States.

The Gulf States restaurant associations have been charged with protecting the interests of their residents, as well as the millions of visitors venturing into the five Gulf States to dine upon the same species recreational anglers prize.

Culinary tourism is a rapidly growing industry for all Gulf States. According to a recently released report from the Louisiana Office of Tourism under Lt. Governor Jay Dardenne, culinary tourism is one of the fastest growing tourism sectors. More than 75 percent of tourists visiting Louisiana alone come for the seafood.

“They are coming to enjoy not only our unique preparations, but also the great Gulf fish we offer in our restaurants,” said Harris.

The fight over red snapper between the commercial and recreational sectors has to stop, but so does the spread of misinformation. The question remains, how to make it happen? 

New Share the Gulf Coalition seeks fairness for Gulf commercial fisherman

More than 130 chefs, restaurant owners, fishermen, seafood industry leaders and conservationists have come together to form a coalition to raise awareness and support for fishermen, restaurants, retail, consumers and tourism depending on fair access to fresh Gulf seafood.

Share the Gulf is an effort initiated in part as a response to a proposal in front of regulators at the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council to take fresh Gulf fish away from seafood counters that are supplied by family-owned commercial fishing businesses that catch red snapper in the Gulf of Mexico.

“This is a coalition of people and groups from across the Gulf that care about making sure access to the Gulf’s resources are shared fairly and sustainably,” said Chef Stephen Stryjewski of New Orleans-based Cochon and Pêche Seafood Grill and founding chef chair of the coalition.

Red snapper is a shared fishery split almost evenly between commercial and recreational fishermen. Due to an outdated data collection system, the offshore recreational fishermen targeting red snapper are caught in a failed management system producing inaccurate data on the amount of fish caught, resulting in shortened seasons year after year.

Coalition to Bring Groups Together

“This coalition is a great opportunity to bring together fishermen, chefs and consumers to voice the importance of seafood to Texas and the rest of the Gulf,” said Jim Gossen, Chairman of Houston-based Sysco Louisiana Seafood and a Gulf Seafood Institute (GSI) board member. “Our goal is to make sure fishery managers continue the practice of fair regulations that sustain the resource for the people depending on it.”

While the vast majority of recreational and commercial fishermen believe in sharing the Gulf’s resources, a few groups have suggested taking fish from consumers and reserve it for offshore recreational fishing as a solution to the problem. Share the Gulf, whose goal is to ensure Gulf seafood continues to be shared fairly and sustainably to be enjoyed for generations to come, disagrees.

“We have worked to build a healthy and sustainable commercial fishery for red snapper in the Gulf of Mexico,” said Bubba Cochrane a commercial fisherman from Galveston, TX and President of the Gulf of Mexico Reef Fish Shareholders’ Alliance.  “The plans in front of the Council will hurt fishing businesses and consumers and set a dangerous precedent.”

In 2007, the Gulf’s commercial red snapper fishery implemented a self-management program helping the population recover from a long-standing depleted status.  The allocation system has allowed commercial fishermen to fish smarter, as well as continuously year round.

The change has been working.  Recently Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch, an internationally recognized sustainable seafood program rating the sustainability of fisheries, removed red snapper from its “Red List”.

If red snapper, grouper or other reef fish are taken away from commercial fishing businesses, seafood suppliers, restaurants and retailers that rely on them; the consequences could be devastating to the Gulf’s seafood industry.

“It’s not just fishermen who depend on red snapper, grouper and other Gulf fish,” said Chef Hugo Ortega of Houston’s Backstreet Cafe and Hugo’s and a coalition co-chair. “Being able to buy fresh Gulf seafood is important to my business and important to the customers I serve.

Gulf Seafood Needs to Align in Collaborative Way

Stan Harris
President/CEO
Louisiana Restaurant
Association

“The industry needs to align in a collaborative way so the Council can hear the challenges our chefs and owners face in today’s environment,” said Stan Harris, President/CEO of the Louisiana Restaurant Association, and GSI Board Member. “Members of Congress, our Gulf state governors, the Gulf Council and the federal and state fishery agencies must hear from the chefs and restaurateurs about the need for fair allocations on behalf of the American consumer and the businesses our industry partners with for supply."

Efforts to reserve fish and limit consumer choice have happened before, with red drum and speckled trout in particular.  A number of interests have expressed concern that the elimination of commercial fishing for red snapper could lead to other Gulf fish, like grouper.

"The coalition will press decision-makers to keep sustainably caught Gulf seafood on the table for the millions of Americans who don’t fish or own their own boat," Harris added.

The removal from the “Red List” confirms fisheries like red snapper, as well as grouper, are being managed properly by commercial fisherman. Rather than penalizing chefs, restaurants, consumers and small fishing businesses responsible for managing the resources sustainably, Share the Gulf realizes the solution is not easy. It believes working together options are available to provide relief to the recreational fishermen from their outdated management plan.

As a first step to better management, technical solutions for recreational fishermen could be instituted; such as a phone application to collect data on fish harvested, documented with photos.

“The members of this coalition want to foster a reasonable debate that leads to fishery management that is fair to everyone and above all sustains the resource for all of its benefits to society and the environment,” said Pam Baker, Gulf of Mexico Director for Environmental Defense Fund. “We want to work with fishery leaders to explore options that provide the longer fishing seasons and long-term conservation anglers seek."

The Share the Gulf coalition is committed to a productive, fair and reasonable dialogue with regulators, elected leaders and others on how the Gulf’s resources fairly and sustainably can best be shared, now and for generations to come.

Gulf Seafood Institute becomes reality with $20k grant from Ocean Conservancy

Recognizing the need for an integrated group dedicated to science and education in the Gulf, the Ocean Conservancy has pledged $20,000 in seed money for a new organization, Gulf Seafood Institute (GSI), whose vision is to establish a close working relationship with the entire Gulf’s environmental and seafood organizations.

Harvesters and processors; distributors and retailers; chefs and restaurants; academia and environmental governmental and non-governmental organizations all have a unique stake in the Gulf’s environment and the sustainability of the seafood it produces. 

According to Harlon Pearce, owner of New Orleans Harlon’s LA Fish and former Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board chairman, “there is no one group that has an outreach to all these varied interests.”   His new vision is the Gulf Seafood Institute.

Five board members of the new Gulf Seafood Institute
recently attended the Gulf of Mexico Fishery
Management Council in San Antonio. Jim Gossen,
Chairman of Sysco Louisiana Seafoods in Houston, TX;
David Krebs, president and owner of Ariel Seafoods in Destin, FL;
Harlon Pearce, owner of Harlon’s LA Fish in New Orleans;
Johnny Greene, a Gulf Shore, AL sport-fishing captain;
 and Pat Riley, general manager of Western Seafood in Freeport, TX.

“With so much on the line after the Deepwater Horizon disaster, stakeholders in the Gulf of Mexico should be working together to build bridges and solve problems,” said Elizabeth Fetherston, deputy director of the Ocean Conservancy’s Fish Conservation Program.  “There are many voices currently speaking for various aspects of the Gulf, the leadership of the GSI has the experience to bring these voices together for the benefit of all.”

Uniting the seafood communities of five Gulf States, the institute’s mission will be to protect the Gulf’s unique culture and environment while elevating the Gulf Seafood brand with consumers, customers and policy leaders through advocacy, education and science.

“A number of Gulf States don’t have a strong presence advocating the management and use of Gulf’s sustainable resources,” said Jim Gossen, chairman of Texas-based Sysco, Louisiana Seafood and a GSI board member. “It is important, now more than ever, for stakeholders from every state having an interest in the Gulf to come together as one unified voice to ensure the continuance of the unique Gulf Coast and its fishing culture.”

Stan Harris, President/CEO, Louisiana Restaurant Association
and Gulf Seafood Institute board member.

With an influential board of directors from across the Gulf, the organization is positioning itself to be a leading advocate on behalf of the Gulf seafood community with federal and state policymakers on key issues impacting our industry.

“There is currently a large void in advocacy from existing Gulf seafood interests; this gap has paved the way for the creation of the Gulf Seafood Institute,” said GSI board member Stan Harris, President/CEO of the Louisiana Restaurant Association. “The institute will leverage the strength of grassroots stakeholders with our relationships with Congress and the Administration to ensure focus on the key issues.”

The board has identified five immediate issues of concern across the region:

• Gulf seafood safety: Recent consumer research indicates there is a continued need for the federal government to communicate with consumers about the safety and wholesomeness of Gulf seafood products.
• H-2B visas: Recent federal actions threaten the viability of the H-2B visa program. We must preserve the H-2B visa program for seafood businesses that utilize temporary foreign workers to fill the most labor-intensive positions in the industry.
• Stock assessments: NOAA must place more emphasis on conducting more frequent and robust, peer-reviewed fisheries stock assessments in the Gulf of Mexico.
• Disaster mitigation and recovery: Maintain close relationships with key decision makers at the federal level so that a comprehensive relief response is immediate following any future fisheries disasters.
• Crop insurance: Coverage for Gulf seafood commodities may stabilize the industry and protect family incomes from disasters both natural and manmade.

Increasing fisheries science and research throughout the Gulf region that will contribute to the preservation of the resource and the longevity of the industry will be a priority of the organization.