NOAA seeks long-term changes on snapper

PANAMA CITY BEACH — The government is seeking a long-term solution to modify accountability measures for the Gulf recreational snapper fishery, a federal administrator said Friday.

The comments from Roy Crabtree, administrator for the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) Southeast Region, came during a conference call Friday, a day after the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council approved an emergency rule to implement an 11-day snapper season beginning June 1 and an earlier court ruling that deemed the fishery highly mismanaged.

That’s down from 42 days last year, leaving Gulf recreational and charter anglers with the shortest red snapper season yet in federal waters.

The ruling in the case, brought by a group of commercial anglers and the Environmental Defense Fund, cites a failed use of short seasons to control landings, use of skewed data along with several other issues.

“The main issue in the lawsuit had to do with the recreational fishery exceeding its quota in recent years,” said Crabtree, citing huge differences in data collected from recreational catch surveys and what the NMFS projected last year.

Crabtree said some of the solutions the council is discussing involve implementing a payback system if the recreational sector exceeds its annual quota, and developing an individual fishing quota (IFQ) program for charter boats and other for-hire boats, a system used in the commercial sector.

The council’s actions also will weigh heavily on how the Gulf states manage snapper in their own waters, which extend 9 nautical miles offshore. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission meets next week and will discuss the state snapper season; the agency is currently proposing a season that would begin the Saturday before Memorial Day and last through July 14.

Louisiana recently implemented a year-round season for red snapper.

‘Shortsighted decision’

For local charter captains that hold a federal reef fish permit, the 11-day federal season is an especially hard blow due to a provision in the federal law regulating fisheries that says permit holders can only fish when federal waters are open.

“I’ve got that noose around my neck, that federal permit,” said Panama City charter Capt. Bob Zales. “Everybody else would be able to benefit from (a longer state season) but us.”

Zales said the parties behind the lawsuit against NMFS are ultimately responsible for this year’s short season.

“Apparently these people don’t want anybody fishing,” Zales said. “They’re doing the most they can do to harm fishermen. They do not want anyone fishing; they do not want anyone on the water.”

U.S. Rep. Steve Southerland, R-Panama City, also slammed the council’s decision Thursday, calling for new management methods for red snapper in the Gulf of Mexico.

“It is painfully obvious that the Gulf of Mexico red snapper fishery is not being managed to foster growth and economic opportunity, but instead to push our fishermen off the water and out of business,” Southerland said. “When this terribly shortsighted decision is implemented, it will be impossible to restore the certainty our fishermen need to build a business, support a family and grow an economy.”