Saving Seafood

NMFS Relaxes Some Gulf IFQ and Dealer Reporting Rules in Wake of Hurricane Harvey

September 6, 2017 — SEAFOOD NEWS — The National Marine Fisheries Service is relaxing some individual fishing quota (IFQ) program reporting and dealer reporting programs in the Gulf of Mexico due to catastrophic conditions related to Hurricane Harvey.

Between Sept. 1 and Oct. 15, specific to the commercial reef fish and coastal migratory pelagic fisheries in the Gulf of Mexico, the NMFS Southeast Regional Administrator determined that Hurricane Harvey caused catastrophic conditions in coastal and adjacent counties in the state of Texas, and Cameron and Vermilion parishes in Louisiana. Consistent with those regulations, the administrator has authorized any dealer in the affected area who does not have access to electronic reporting to delay reporting of trip tickets to NMFS, according to the Federal Register notice. The administrator authorized IFQ participants within the affected area to use paper-based forms, if necessary, for basic required administrative functions, e.g., landing transactions, during the same timeframe.

“This temporary rule announcing the determination of catastrophic conditions and allowance of alternative methods for completing required IFQ and other dealer reporting administrative functions is intended to facilitate continuation of IFQ and dealer reporting operations during the period of catastrophic conditions,” the FR notice said. NMFS will continue to monitor the situation and publish additional notices, if needed.

Hurricane Harvey made landfall between Port Aransas and Port O’Connor, Texas, as a Category 4 hurricane on Aug. 25. Strong winds and flooding affected communities throughout coastal and eastern Texas and southwest Louisiana, resulting in power outages and damage to homes, businesses, and infrastructure. As a result, the administrator determined catastrophic conditions exist in all coastal and adjacent counties of Texas and in Cameron and Vermilion Parishes, Louisiana.

The notice said that even though NMFS is allowing dealers to delay landing reports, they should report all landings as soon as possible. Assistance for Federal dealers in effected areas is available at the Fisheries Monitoring Branch, 1-305-361-4581.

Many IFQ dealers likely already have paper forms for use when NMFS declares the existence of catastrophic conditions. Paper forms are also available from the region upon request. The electronic systems for submitting information to NMFS will continue to be available to all participants, and participants in the affected areas are encouraged to continue using these systems, if accessible.

The administrative program functions available to fishermen and dealers in Texas and part of Louisiana will be limited under the paper-based system; IFQ shares or allocation transfers will be unavailable during that time. Assistance in complying with the requirements of the paper-based system will be available via the Catch Share Support line, 1-866-425-7627 Monday through Friday, between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Eastern time.

This story originally appeared on Seafoodnews.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.

LOUISIANA: Anglers get final weekend of red snapper fishing

September 1, 2017 — Louisiana anglers will get a final weekend of red snapper fishing as catch numbers are about 160,000 pounds below the state’s self-imposed limit for 2017.

The latest statistics, released today by the state Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, show 880,603 pounds of red snapper had been caught as of Aug. 20.

In June, the Wildlife and Fisheries Commission ordered agency Secretary Jack Montoucet to close the season when it appears anglers will meet the state’s self-imposed limit of 1.04 million pounds or by Sept. 4, whichever comes first.

Read the full story at Houma Today

LOUISIANA: Red Snapper fishing likely to continue through Labor Day

August 25, 2017 — BATON ROUGE, La. — Based on the latest LA Creel landings data and this weekend’s weather forecast, LDWF biologists anticipate the red snapper season will remain open through Labor Day.

The latest catch stats from LDWF’s LA Creel, the agency’s near real-time data collecting program, show that 849,227 pounds of red snapper had been caught as of August 13. The last reported amount was 780,769 pounds.

The Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission has ordered LDWF Secretary Jack Montoucet to shut down the red snapper season when it appears anglers will meet the self-imposed limit of 1.04 million pounds.

Read the full story at KATC

Robert Jones: Red snapper anglers need real and lasting change

August 22, 2017 — The way recreational anglers’ share of Gulf red snapper is converted into fixed seasons clearly isn’t working and I believe we can do better! However, I think we can all agree that setting science-based catch limits have helped bring red snapper back from the brink, and now is not the time to abandon them.

The recovery of red snapper over the last decade has been amazing to see. I can remember fishing with my dad as a kid off the coast of Texas and we could barely find red snapper. Today you can go to just about any marina and see sizeable red snapper being unloaded with big smiles all around.

The fact is, as the population is rebounding, catch limits for recreational fishermen have more than doubled. The total for the fishery is 14 million pounds this year, split roughly in half between recreational and commercial fishing, with sub-quotas between charter operators and individual anglers. Better management regimes in the commercial and charter industries are keeping both groups within their sustainable limits.

So if the quota has more than doubled in the last decade and other fishing industries aren’t exceeding their limits, why are we facing frustratingly short federal seasons?

Read the full opinion piece at Houma Today

LOUISIANA: Anglers get another weekend of red snapper fishing

August 18, 2017 — Louisiana anglers will get another weekend of red snapper fishing as catch numbers are more than 250,000 pounds below the state’s self-imposed limit for 2017.

The latest statistics from the state Department of Wildlife and Fisheries show 780,769 pounds of red snapper had been caught as of Aug. 6.

The Wildlife and Fisheries Commission has ordered agency Secretary Jack Montoucet to close the season when it appears anglers will meet the state’s self-imposed limit of 1.04 million pounds.

Louisiana officials said they hope being accountable for the catch limit will help the state’s chances of receiving federal permission to manage its own red snapper season not just in state but in federal waters in the Gulf of Mexico.

Read the full story at Houma Today

Red snapper proposal attracts allies and foes

August 7, 2017 — Environmental and fishing groups continue to line up for and against Louisiana lawmakers’ proposal to give states more control over red snapper fishing in the Gulf of Mexico.

Among other provisions, the companion measures awaiting action in Congress would give states authority to set seasons up to 25 miles off their coasts or to where waters reach 150 feet in depth, whichever is the greater distance. States already have the authority to manage the red snapper fishery up to nine miles off their coasts.

Companion bills introduced about a week ago are the latest in a years-long battle over how the popular fish is managed. Louisiana’s two Republican senators, Bill Cassidy and John Kennedy, are sponsoring the Red Snapper Act of 2017 in the Senate. Reps. Garret Graves, R-Baton Rouge; Cedric Richmond, D-New Orleans; and Clay Higgins, R-Port Barre; are among a bipartisan group of Gulf Coast lawmakers who have introduced a companion bill in the House.

Recreational fishermen have for years complained that federal authorities have set overly restrictive catch limits and unnecessarily short seasons for red snapper despite a rebound in the species’ numbers. Environmental and conservation groups have already gone on record opposing the measure, saying it will hamper efforts to help the fish rebound from years of severe overfishing.

Read the full story at the Daily Comet

Louisiana anglers get another red snapper weekend

August 4, 2017 — Louisiana is definitely the Sportsman Paradise for anglers hoping to catch red snapper.

Latest estimates from the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries show that the catch total is still thousands of pounds below the mark that would signal the end of the red snapper season.

The latest catch statistics recorded by LDWF’s LA Creel, the department’s near real-time data collecting program, is 736,159 pounds covering the period ending July 23. The last reported catch amount was 709,595 pounds, covering the period through July 16.

The state’s self-imposed cutoff number is 1.04 million pounds for 2017.

Read the full story at WAFB

Bills would open snapper harvest out to at least 25 miles

August 3, 2017 — Louisiana senators and representatives have introduced companion legislation in Congress that would give states management authority of red snapper out to 25 miles or 25 fathoms, whichever is greater, off their coastlines. Currently, states control red snapper out to nine nautical miles.

Both Louisiana senators, Bill Cassidy and John Kennedy, introduced the bill in the Senate, while Reps. Garret Graves, Cedric Richmond and Clay Higgins joined seven other representatives to propose the House bill.

The legislation is designed to ensure Gulf of Mexico anglers have broader access to rebounding red snapper stocks during 2018 and beyond. This year, the Commerce Department gave recreational anglers 39 additional days in federal waters after NOAA Fisheries set a three-day recreational season.

That move is being contested in court, and without legislation to address the issue, recreational anglers could be locked out of the fishery in 2018.

Graves said the need for legislation is overdue.

“Something has to change,” he said. “It is time to replace the status quo with a management system that more accurately reflects today’s red snapper private recreational fishery.”

Read the full story at the New Orleans Times-Picayune

Longer season threatens red snapper, group contends

But area anglers question the conservation group’s findings.

July 31, 2017 — A federal decision to extend the recreational fishing season for Gulf of Mexico red snapper this summer is likely to lead to overfishing, conservation group says.

The extended season, now under way, could allow anglers to take up to three times as much snapper as legally allowed under scientifically sound catch limits, according to an analysis of fishery data by The Pew Charitable Trusts.

Pew analyzed estimated red snapper catch rates and projections from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Fisheries Service and concluded that total 2017 landings in the Gulf by all fishermen will probably exceed legally allowed amounts by at least 37 percent.

“That’s a disturbing scenario for a species that plummeted to low population levels from overfishing in the 1990s,” Holly Binns, Pew’s director of U.S. Oceans Southeast, wrote Thursday in a report on the findings. “Gulf red snapper have been recovering thanks to federally mandated, science-based catch limits and court-ordered measures to prevent catching the fish faster than they can reproduce, but that progress is now in jeopardy.”

Louisiana and other Gulf Coast anglers won a 39-day red snapper season that started June 16 and is expected to run through Labor Day. Recreational fishermen can catch red snapper Fridays through Sundays through Sept. 4 in federal waters off Louisiana; state waters were closed to the fish as part of the deal.

Read the full story at Houma Today

Louisiana Lt. Governor Nungesser Tours Maine Aquaculture With Gulf Seafood Leaders

July 26, 2017 — Southern drawls and Cajun accents mixed with New England Down East tones as 20 members of the Gulf seafood community toured Maine’s innovative aquaculture facilities to identify potential opportunities in the Gulf of Mexico.

One voice on the tour was that Billy Nungesser, Lt. Governor of Louisiana, who sees a huge need and opportunity for his state to become an aquaculture leader in the Gulf of Mexico, as well as the world.

Nungesser thinks that environmentally sound and sustainable aquaculture is needed in all the states that ring the Gulf to meet the ever-growing need for fresh fish worldwide. He admits that Gulf States, including his, are behind the curve in investing in the growing worldwide trend toward farm-raised fish.

Nungesser joined other state officials, fisherman, processors and seafood stakeholders in the tour organized by the Gulf Seafood Institute and hosted by the Maine Aquaculture Association. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) provided funding for learning experience.

Read the full story at the Gulf Seafood Foundation