Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council Archives - Page 10 of 10

August 13, 2015 — The following was released by Share the Gulf:

Today the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council (Gulf Council) voted to reallocate several hundred-thousand pounds of red snapper away from the commercial fishing sector to the purely recreational sector. Share the Gulf is coalition of more than 44,000 chefs, restaurateurs, conservationists, seafood suppliers, commercial fishermen and consumers that has opposed the proposal.

“The vast majority of Americans do not own an offshore boat; they access the fishery through their favorite restaurants and grocery stores. This vote erodes their right to this shared American resource and hurts the businesses that provide it to them. Thankfully thousands of chefs, fishermen and seafood lovers made their voice heard or this could have been much worse,” said Stan Harris, CEO of the Louisiana Restaurant Association.

The proposal, known as Amendment 28, has gone through numerous iterations as it has been under consideration by the Gulf Council for years. Currently the red snapper fishery is divided almost 50-50 between the commercial and recreational sectors. Some alternatives considered in Amendment 28 could have shifted millions of pounds of fish and done untold damage to commercial fishermen, the seafood supply chain, restaurants and grocery stores.

“I voted against this because it takes millions of consumer meals off the market while not even providing a full extra day of fishing for recreational anglers. Some on the council were trying to shift millions of pounds of red snapper, so this could have been worse had people not stood up and fought for their right to access the fishery even if they don’t own a boat,” said David Walker, a commercial fisherman from Alabama who also sits on the Gulf Council.

“This was a poor decision by the Gulf Council because it hurts consumers and local businesses while not actually helping fisherman. Recreational management is so broken that this will not give them more than one extra day of fishing. Hopefully, now that this distraction is finished, we can focus on fixing the management system to give private anglers the fishing opportunities they deserve,” said Jason DeLaCruz, owner of Wild Seafood Company in St. Petersburg, Florida.

Read the release from Share the Gulf

WASHINGTON (Saving Seafood) — August 13, 2015 — Dr. James Cowan, Professor at the Department of Oceanography and Coastal Studies at Louisiana State University (LSU), has written a letter to the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council opposing the under-consideration Amendment 28 to the Reef Fish Fishery Management Plan. Among other changes, Amendment 28 would transfer red snapper quota from the commercial fishery to the recreational fishery.

According to Dr. Cowan, “the notion that reallocation of red snapper from the commercial sector of the fishery to the recreational sector is a conservation measure is indefensible.” Instead, he notes that the key to maintaining a stable red snapper population is to ensure that there is a good year class every 5-7 years. He explains that one of the main problems currently facing the fishery is the lack of older fish, who produce more eggs and are thus more likely to contribute to producing new red snapper.

Dr. Cowan further criticizes the Amendment, noting that red snapper remains overfished, and that “raising [Annual Catch Limits], reallocation of more of the fishery to recreational sector, along with state management of the resource, will result in overfishing again within two to four years.” Given that current issues can be traced to a lack of older red snapper in the population, he notes, “there appears to be no justification” for reallocating quota to the recreational fishery. And because that fishery is more likely to target larger, older snapper, Dr. Cowan writes that, “I believe that the proposed reallocation will result in an increased risk of failure to reach the 2032 stock rebuilding target.”

Read the full letter from Dr. Cowan here