Saving Seafood

New study estimates three times more Red Snapper in Gulf of Mexico

April 13, 2021 — Red Snapper thrives in Gulf waters. In a first-of-its-kind study, scientists across the Gulf Coasts found an estimated 110 million Red Snapper in the Gulf of Mexico, compared to previous federal estimates of 36 million.

“We can use some sophisticated management approaches that hopefully will give everyone more access to those fish,” said Dr. Greg Stunz, who led the study on the Great Red Snapper Count out of Texas A&M at Corpus Christi and the Harte Research Institute.

Dr. Stunz said his team of researchers worked countless hours over the course of three years counting the Gulf’s snapper population.

The $12.5 million study was a collaborative effort across the Gulf of Mexico. About $9.5 million was provided by congressional appropriations through a NOAA Sea Grant, while the rest was funded through individual institutes involved.

Read the full story at KLTV

Final Report of the Great Red Snapper Count Released

March 25, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Today, an impressive scientific team led by the Harte Research Institute (HRI) released their final report on the Great Red Snapper Count. We are pleased to receive the final report and are working to incorporate the results into an interim analysis as quickly as possible. As we stated last October when the draft report was delivered, we welcome the results of the study. It provides important new scientific information to enhance our understanding of the Gulf red snapper population.

Dr. Greg Stunz is HRI’s Chair for Fisheries and Ocean Health and director of the institute’s Center for Sportfish Science and Conservation. He and a multidisciplinary team of scientists worked collaboratively to complete this landmark study. We are grateful to Congress for appropriating the funds for the project and to our partners who conducted and completed it successfully. HRI was awarded $9.5 million in federal funds by administering agency Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant through a competitive research grant process. With matching institutional funds, the project totaled $12 million.

NOAA Fisheries is incorporating these data into an interim analysis to help inform quotas and management measures for the 2021 Gulf red snapper season. Results of the Great Red Snapper Count and this interim analysis are expected to be reviewed by independent experts. The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council’s Scientific and Statistical Committee will also review the results March 30-April 2 and the analysis will be available for the Gulf Fishery Management Council meeting the week of April 12th. We will continue to work with our partners on the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council and its Scientific and Statistical Committee to peer-review the assessment and adjust red snapper management as appropriate.

The next full, operational assessment for Gulf Red Snapper is scheduled to begin in late 2022 and be completed in 2023. The Great Red Snapper Count will be an important input in this stock assessment along with other fishery independent and fishery dependent data.

Read the full release here

Gulf red snapper plentiful, and prices stay robust

December 30, 2020 — No one should have any difficulty buying fresh Gulf of Mexico red snapper for dinner anytime in the foreseeable future.

“It’s what they call a ‘harvest fishery’ — you go out there, they bite. They’re not hard to find,” said Steve Rash, who owns Water Street Seafood in Apalachicola, Fla.

That assessment was confirmed by the recent Great Red Snapper Count — a two-year scientific study conducted by Texas A&M’s Harte Research Institute. Researchers reported to Congress in October that there are up to three times as many red snapper living in the gulf as scientists previously estimated.

Rash says the dozen or so boats operating out of his fish house catch red snapper on nearly every trip, whether it is the target species or as bycatch in the grouper, amberjack, or other reef fisheries. He says dock prices are in the $5 to $5.50-per-pound range, with fishermen who are leasing quota netting about $2 per pound.

As of just before Thanksgiving, gulf fishermen had landed about 5.6 million pounds, or 82 percent of the annual quota of 7 million pounds. Rash said sales to restaurants were slow from last winter to early spring as a result of covid-19-related shutdowns.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

Red snapper: A conservation success story

June 26, 2020 — The darkest days are seemingly in the past for red snapper in the Gulf of Mexico.

A restoration of the fishery, decades in the making, has blossomed into one of the most recent success stories in conservation.

“We have more snapper now than in anyone’s lifetime,” said Greg Stunz, director of the Harte Research Institute’s Sportfish Center at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.

“And they’re big snapper.”

A federal plan to rebuild the fishery by 2032 is well ahead of schedule.

The goal is to increase the spawning potential to 26 percent, which means the stock would produce about a quarter of the eggs that an unfished population would. The estimated spawning biomass of red snapper in the Gulf is currently about 20 percent, a long climb from the sub-2 percent low mark of 1990.

Read the full story at the Houston Chronicle

Shark population dramatically increasing along Texas Gulf Coast

July 19, 2019 — According to scientists, sharks are quickly increasing in numbers along the Texas coast.

“With the work that the government is putting in, we’re definitely seeing a lot more sharks,” said local fisherman Cris Southers. “A lot healthier sharks [too].”

Throughout the last few weeks, multiple fishermen have received media attention after catching large sharks along Texas beaches.

“If you’re in the water, you’re likely near a shark,” said Dr. Greg Stunz, a professor of marine biology.

According to Dr. Stunz, the shark population along the Texas coast is larger than it has been in years. The professor credits the increase in shark numbers to new U.S. government regulations, and education.

“They’ve really rebounded, due to stricter regulations,” said Dr. Stunz.

The professor works alongside the Harte Research Institute, an organization the tracks and studies the movement of sharks.

Read the full story at News 4 San Antonio