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Blue Over Red Snapper
One of the gulf's prized catches has been overfished
to the point regulations had to change
By Rodney Page
Ever since fishermen figured out a way to catch fish in deep waters, red snapper have been a main target.
They are fairly easy to catch or net. They rarely get above 20 pounds, so it doesn't take hours to land a
red snapper. And they taste great.
Three strikes, and they were almost out.
Red snapper have been an overfished species for more than 100 years. Their numbers were depleted so badly in the
1970s that a special council was formed to protect them.
The numbers still aren't where they need to be, but steps are being taken.
"The fishery for red snapper has really been overfished since the 1800s*," National Marine Fisheries Service regional
administrator Roy Crabtree said. "It started when sailboats would load up on snapper and try to get them back to
shore alive. And the depletion really became a long-standing problem in the 1970s."
Since then, the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council has been playing catch up. The council, which was formed
in 1976, prepares plans designed to manage fishery resources from where the state waters end 9 miles offshore to
the 200-mile limit of the Gulf of Mexico.
Red snapper fall under the council's management since they are mostly considered a deep-water fish. As an overfished
species, red snapper needed saving. That's where the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council comes in.
A change in the rules
Before this year, snapper season in federal waters started in mid April and was open for the first 10 days of
each month until the 6.5-million pounds quota was reached. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA) believed that created a "race for fish" each month and was an unsafe way to implement the rules.
"It was not very efficient," Crabtree said. "It flooded the market at certain times of the year, and it sometimes
forced fishermen out into bad weather conditions."
In January, the Individual Fishing Quota (IFQ) program for the commercial red snapper fishery was implemented
in the gulf. A total of 51 percent of the available IFQ licenses were available to commercial fishermen
and 49 percent went to recreational fishermen.
Fishermen are allowed to take a specific share of the total allowable catch of a species each fishing year and
can fish until their individual quotas are met. Fishermen may also sell shares of their quota to other fishermen.
The hope is to reduce fishing capacity to a level that is more appropriate to the amount of fish available. And
it should stop red snapper from flooding the market at certain times.
Regulations
The recreational season opened April 21 in federal waters and will continue until the quota of 6.5-million
pounds is reached. There are some changes to this season's regulations. On May 2, the total catch quota
dropped from 9.12-million pounds caught to 6.5-million. The recreational bag limit dropped from four to
two per person, per day. And it prohibits the captain and crew of a for-hire vessel from retaining the
recreational bag limit. For a complete listing of the red snapper regulations,
go to http://sero.nmfs.noaa.gov/sf/RedSnapper/pdfs/FisheryBulletin.pdf.
Where to find them
Red snapper are plentiful in the gulf and along the Atlantic coast as far north as the Carolinas. They can also
be found in the Yucatan and sparsely in the Caribbean.
Red snapper like structure. They can be found off the Louisiana coast near oil rigs and can stay there f
or years. Generally, red snapper are in 60 to 300 feet of water, but they don't dwell on the bottom.
They are usually around a depth of 30 feet. They move to shallower water in the winter.
Since the season likely ends in October, even when snapper move inshore, it is illegal to keep them.
How to catch them
Once a school of snapper is located, anglers usually have the most success using squid, shrimp and cut bait.
Snapper tend to prefer a still or slow-moving bait. Another technique is to chum the snapper to the
surface and use artificial baits like flies.
The world-record red snapper is 50 pounds, 4 ounces, caught off Louisiana in June 1996. The average snapper
in the gulf coast runs about 10 to 12 pounds.
Rodney Page can be reached at page@sptimes.com or (727) 893-8123.
*Mr. Crabtree reports that he was inadvertently misquoted in this article. This sentemce
should read..."likely became overfished in the Gulf during the 1970's."
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