Saving Seafood

FLORIDA: Florida representatives want to ban shark feeding to stop red snapper depredation

June 19, 2025 — Two lawmakers from the U.S. state of Florida want to ban shark feeding off the state’s coast, claiming the practice leads to increased activity and depredation of red snapper.

“As a Floridian and member of the House Natural Resources Committee, I am committed to the responsible stewardship of our marine ecosystems and safety of our waters,” U.S. Representative Daniel Webster (R-Florida) said in a statement. “This legislation mirrors current Florida law, which helps ensure the safety of Floridians and provide commonsense conservation of marine wildlife.”

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

US Justice Department indicts four Mexican fishers for illegal red snapper harvest

May 16, 2025 –A grand jury in Texas has indicted four Mexican fishers on charges of illegally harvesting red snapper in U.S. waters.

According to the criminal complaint, U.S. authorities observed a crew of four fishers from Matamoros, Mexico, operating several miles north of the U.S.-Mexico maritime border in the Gulf of Mexico, currently referred to as the Gulf of America by the U.S. government. Operating in an unmarked, unregistered, panga-style fishing vessel without running lights, the crew reportedly harvested 315 kilograms of red snapper.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

FLORIDA: Gov. DeSantis announces longest Gulf red snapper season

April 29, 2025 — Florida is ready to allow its longest-ever Gulf red snapper recreational season for 2025. Anglers will be allowed to harvest the gamefish for a total of 126 days total, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Monday.

Gulf red snapper management was previously handled by the federal government, but they shifted management to Gulf states over the years.

“When I became governor, a lot of anglers would tell me the way the federal government was managing the red snapper was not an accurate representation of what was actually there,” DeSantis said.

Read the full story at the South Florida Sun Sentinel

US bill would create new method for testing red snapper and tuna country of origin

January 31, 2025 — United States senators have introduced legislation that would task the federal government with developing a new methodology for identifying where tuna and red snapper sold in the U.S. originated from.

If passed, the Illegal Red Snapper and Tuna Enforcement Act would direct the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and NOAA with creating a field test kit that uses a chemical agent to determine whether red snapper or certain species of tuna originated in foreign waters.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

US lawmakers move to block NOAA Fisheries from closing red snapper fishery

January 21, 2025 —  Federal lawmakers from the U.S. state of Florida have introduced legislation to block NOAA Fisheries from closing the recreational South Atlantic red snapper fishery for three months of the year.

“Florida’s fishing industry is a multi-billion dollar economic driver in our state, supporting hundreds of thousands of jobs and attracting visitors to communities along our coast,” U.S. Senator Rick Scott (R-Florida) said in a statement. “We’ve made great strides in Florida to ensure our natural resources are preserved and protected for years to come, including rebuilding the Red Snapper population. I’m proud to work with [U.S. Representative John Rutherford (R-Florida)] on the Red Snapper Act to support our state’s commercial and recreational fishing industry and ensure their success isn’t limited by federal government’s outdated data and regulations.”

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Red snapper reopens for federal for-hire permitted boats. Is this good for the fishery?

November 19, 2024 — After one of the longest red snapper seasons in more than a decade, the red snapper federal for-hire season is reopening again.

Although it may be good for a little extra business, Destin charter boat captains are not so sure it will be good for the fishery.

“I think it was a nice gesture, if that’s what you want to call it, and I’m sure it will generate a few trips for some boats, which is great,” said Capt. Justin Destin of the Un Reel. “But I’m more concerned with the well-being of the population of red snapper in our area. There’s a reason we are not catching our quota during the longest season we’ve had in years. More days is not the answer.”

Federal for-hire boats just finished an 88-day red snapper season, June 1 to Aug. 28.

According to a news release from the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council, “NOAA Fisheries determined that the red snapper recreational federal for-hire annual catch target was not reached during the open season.”

Read the full article at The Destin Log

NOAA announces $2M investment to protect Gulf of Mexico’s red snapper

October 17, 2024 — NOAA said Wednesday $2 million provided by the Inflation Reduction Act is being awarded to fisheries partnerships for data collection and modeling to help understand and mitigate climate change impacts.

NOAA is partnering with the Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission and the Cooperative Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Studies at the University of Miami.

The money will be used to improve scientific data and management decisions regarding the red snapper in the Gulf of Mexico.

“This $2 million investment, made possible thanks to President Biden’s historic Inflation Reduction Act, will boost NOAA’s ability to support red snapper populations by expanding scientific partnerships that improve data collection and help us understand and mitigate the impacts of climate change on fisheries in coastal regions nationwide,” said U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo in a statement.

Read the full article at UPI

 

Alabama senators’ red snapper legislation moves forward

August 9, 2024 — Backers of red snapper legislation advancing in the United States Senate say it could protect the United States market from illegal Mexican fishing – though its approach relies on technology that has yet to be developed.

In fact, a bill backed by three Republican senators — Katie Britt and Tommy Tuberville of Alabama, along with Ted Cruz of Texas — is a call for the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to figure out the methodology needed to create nationality field test kits for red snapper. It sets a two-year deadline.

If enacted, the legislation would give the under secretary of commerce for standards & technology and the director of the NIST, a position currently held by Laurie Locascio, a two-year deadline. It calls for the under secretary to work with the U.S. Coast Guard and U.S. Customs and Border Patrol to develop a “joint standard of methodology based on chemical analysis for identifying the country of origin of red snapper.”

By the two-year deadline, the under secretary would be required to submit a report that sums up the methods developed as well as “a plan for operationalizing the methodology.” That’s clarified elsewhere as “a field kit that can be easily carried by one individual,” involves minimal processing time, and its otherwise suited to the needs of law enforcement officers in the field.

Read the full article at AL

South Atlantic federal closure of red snapper 2024

August 6, 2024 — The commercial harvest of red snapper in federal waters of the South Atlantic will close at 12:01 a.m. on August 6, 2024. The 2024 commercial catch limit is 85,268 pounds whole weight. Commercial landings are projected to reach the commercial catch limit by August 6. According to the accountability measure, harvest must close to prevent the commercial catch limit from being exceeded.

NOAA Fisheries published a temporary rule on June 14, 2024, to implement interim measures to reduce the overfishing of red snapper. The temporary rule reduced the total, commercial, and recreational catch limits for red snapper in South Atlantic federal waters for 2024.  For 2024, the total catch limit was reduced from 42,510 to 31,000 fish.  The commercial catch limit was reduced from 124,815 to 85,268 pounds whole weight, and the recreational catch limit was reduced from 29,656 to 21,167 fish.

Read the full article at The National Fisherman

Exploring Innovative Strategies to Reduce Red Snapper Discards

June 3, 2024 — Fishing is a favorite pastime and an economic driver, especially in the Southeast. NOAA Fisheries recognizes that recreational and commercial fishers, fishery managers, and others are frustrated by short fishing seasons for South Atlantic red snapper and high levels of dead discards. Last year the season was just 2 days.

The most recent South Atlantic red snapper population assessment indicates the species is recovering. However, it is experiencing too much fishing mortality—largely as a result of the number of fish that are discarded and subsequently die.

“We understand anglers are frustrated.  We as managers are also frustrated and see the need for new, innovative management strategies to reduce snapper-grouper dead discards, including red snapper,” said Andy Strelcheck, NOAA Fisheries’ Southeast Regional Administrator. “We also need to better realize the social and economic benefits for the snapper-grouper fishery, and provide additional fishing opportunities as we recover fish stocks.”

NOAA Fisheries is recommending five projects for funding, totaling $879,211. These projects will explore new, innovative approaches to better understand and reduce red snapper dead discards, and increase fishing opportunities in the South Atlantic snapper-grouper fishery.

Read the full article at NOAA Fisheries