SEAFOODNEWS.COM by Michael Ramsingh – February 10, 2016 — Recreational red snapper users are going to Congress to bypass industry stakeholders to shift commercial and recreational management to the five Gulf States according to the commercial and charter sectors.

In January the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council tabled the Amendment 39 proposal. That included a move of recreational red snapper management to the five Gulf States. This would undermine the primacy of federal fisheries management in the Magnuson Stevens Act.

Both the Charter Fisherman’s Association (CFA) and Gulf Reef Shareholders Alliance (GRSA) say the Council’s decision to delay Amendment 39 is part of an effort to get state-run management passed at the federal level by Congress.

“The same five state directors who for years have said they could manage the red snapper fishery better than the NMFS voted unanimously that they couldn’t do so and led the charge to postpone work on Amendment 39 (regional management) indefinitely,” said Capt Mike Jennings, a member of the Shareholders Alliance. “These five individuals are now asking Congress to hand it to them via federal legislation. Then they can work out a deal behind closed doors, without public input, despite their inability to do so in a public process guaranteed under the Magnuson-Stevens Act.”  

Last summer, the Gulf States Red Snapper Management Authority Act or HR 3094, was introduced as a way to get state-run Gulf Red Snapper management. The bill is sponsored by Representative Garret Graves (R-LA). 

The legislation differs from Amendment 39 since it shifts all red snapper management decisions—including commercial and charter sectors—to the Gulf States. The Congressional bill also circumvents input from industry stakeholders on how a state-run management system would function. Essentially, one director from each state would oversee Gulf red snapper management. 

However, in November HR 3094 was blasted in hearings before a House Committee on Natural Resources’ Subcommittee on Water, Power and Oceans.

“Charter-for-hire captains throughout the Gulf, and many commercial fishermen, chefs, and others involved in the seafood industry, are deeply concerned that this legislation will lead to an eventual, exclusive recreational fishery for Gulf of Mexico red snapper,” said Gulf of Mexico, Captain Gary Jarvis, president of the Destin Charter Boat Association at the time.

Meanwhile, other opponents of HR 3094 note how the bill directly flaunts the success of the federal fishery management process under Magnuson. 

“Unfortunately, some in Congress are supporting legislation that would undercut the MSA — drastically cutting consumers access to red snapper. U.S. Rep. Garret Graves’ H.R. 3094 would grant five Gulf states exclusive management authority over the entire red snapper fishery,” said Seafood Harvesters of America Executive Director Brett Veerhusen and Haley Bittermann, Corporate Executive Chef and Director of the Ralph Brennan Restaurant Group in an Op-Ed published this week in the The Times-Picayune. “We cannot support state takeover of the commercial fishery in the Gulf of Mexico. This bill threatens the availability of red snapper to local fishermen and restaurants across the country. This could prompt unsustainable overfishing by private anglers and set a dangerous precedent where states would have little incentive to be stricter than their neighbor.”