Red snapper Archives - Page 32 of 42

NOAA Fisheries – FB17-027: Commercial Closure for Vermilion Snapper in South Atlantic Federal Waters on May 17, 2017

May 12, 2017 — The following was released by NOAA:

WHAT/WHEN:The commercial harvest of vermilion snapper in federal waters of the South Atlantic will close at 12:01 a.m. on May 17, 2017. During the commercial closure, harvest or possession of vermilion snapper in or from federal waters is limited to the recreational bag and possession limits when the recreational fishery is open.WHY IS THIS CLOSURE HAPPENING:

The 2017 January – June commercial catch limit is 431,460 pounds whole weight. Commercial landings are approaching the commercial catch limit and harvest should close to prevent the catch limit from being exceeded.

AFTER THE CLOSURE:The closure applies in both state and federal waters for vessels that have a federal commercial permit for South Atlantic Snapper-Grouper. The prohibition on sale or purchase during a closure for vermilion snapper does not apply to fish that were harvested, landed ashore, and sold prior to 12:01 a.m. on May 17, 2017, and were held in cold storage by a dealer or processor.

The second vermilion snapper season in the South Atlantic will open on July 1, 2017, with a 431,460 pounds whole weight catch limit, and a 1,100-pound whole weight or 1,000-pound gutted weight trip limit.

This bulletin provides only a summary of the existing regulations. Full regulations can be found in the Federal Register or by clicking here.

ALABAMA: Orange Beach blasts red snapper restrictions: ‘Detrimental to our economic interest’

May 10, 2017 — The Orange Beach City Council endorsed a plea to federal officials on Tuesday for an immediate lengthening of the 2017 red snapper season that’s presently capped at a shortest-ever three days.

The council’s vote took place during a special meeting and after two city leaders — City Councilman Jeff Boyd and Mayor Tony Kennon – criticized the federal involvement in limiting a recreational activity that they claim is responsible for “hundreds of millions of dollars” in annual economic activity in coastal Alabama.

“This is detrimental to our economic interest and well-being of our citizens,” said Kennon.

Added Boyd: “Guests are canceling reservations, people are not purchasing boats, not buying second homes … they see no hope in the future of Gulf of Mexico fishing.”

Read the full story at AL.com

Pilot program would give Louisiana control of red snapper stocks for three years

May 8, 2017 — The head of the Fisheries Division of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries on Thursday told the board that regulates his agency he’s optimistic Louisiana may get to manage red snapper in federal waters off the state’s coast in 2019, 2020 and 2021.

Patrick Banks updated the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission about a proposal he made to the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council that would establish a pilot program allowing Louisiana to manage red-snapper stocks in both state and federal waters off its coast for three years. By an 11 to 5 vote, the council approved the proposal, which gives Louisiana the go-ahead to flesh it out into an actual amendment that would ultimately need to be approved by the advisory panel.

“It’s not everything we want, but it’s certainly a better ride than what we’ve got right now,” Banks told the commission.

Details of the plan must still be worked out, and Banks said it’s possible the council will alter the ultimate amendment so much it will look nothing like what’s originally proposed. But his intention is to allow Louisiana to set seasons and regulations out to 200 nautical miles off the coast during the three years of the pilot program to demonstrate how regional management might work.

Banks cautioned, however, that wouldn’t mean a 365-day season with high daily limits.

Under the proposal, state anglers would get access to Louisiana’s historical catch, which is 15.8 percent of the total Gulf recreational red snapper quota. Based on current numbers, that would be about 1.1 million pounds of red snapper.

Since more waters would be open to anglers from the Texas to Mississippi state lines, Louisiana’s share of the quota would be much more quickly reached than under the current management regimen. In 2016, the federal season was only 11 days, but state waters were open to red snapper harvest for nearly nine months.

Read the full story at the Times-Picayune

3-Day Red Snapper Season for Anglers in Gulf’s US Waters

May 3, 2017 — Private recreational anglers went 25 percent over last year’s quota for red snapper , and will have only three days to fish federal waters this year for one of the Gulf of Mexico’s most popular sport and table fish, federal regulators said Tuesday.

Charter boat captains will have a 49-day season. Both seasons will start June 1.

“It’s a disappointment to me to that we have made such gains in rebuilding this stock but the season’s going to be this short,” said Roy Crabtree, regional fisheries administrator for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

A big reason, he said, is that private anglers are expected to take 81 percent of their 3 million-pound (1.3-million kilogram) quota out of state waters, where seasons range from 66 days off Alabama to year-round off Texas.

State officials and politicians say the 3-day season just proves states should regulate the species.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at U.S. News

China’s Appetite Pushes Fisheries to the Brink

May 1, 2017 — Once upon a time, the seas teemed with mackerel, squid and sardines, and life was good. But now, on opposite sides of the globe, sun-creased fishermen lament as they reel in their nearly empty nets.

“Your net would be so full of fish, you could barely heave it onto the boat,” said Mamadou So, 52, a fisherman in Senegal, gesturing to the meager assortment of tiny fish flapping in his wooden canoe.

A world away in eastern China, Zhu Delong, 75, also shook his head as his net dredged up a disappointing array of pinkie-size shrimp and fledgling yellow croakers. “When I was a kid, you could cast a line out your back door and hook huge yellow croakers,” he said. “Now the sea is empty.”

Overfishing is depleting oceans across the globe, with 90 percent of the world’s fisheries fully exploited or facing collapse, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. From Russian king crab fishermen in the west Bering Sea to Mexican ships that poach red snapper off the coast of Florida, unsustainable fishing practices threaten the well-being of millions of people in the developing world who depend on the sea for income and food, experts say.

But China, with its enormous population, growing wealth to buy seafood and the world’s largest fleet of deep-sea fishing vessels, is having an outsize impact on the globe’s oceans.

Having depleted the seas close to home, Chinese fishermen are sailing farther to exploit the waters of other countries, their journeys often subsidized by a government more concerned with domestic unemployment and food security than the health of the world’s oceans and the countries that depend on them.

Read the full story at the New York Times

Louisiana Seeks Public Input on Red Snapper Management

April 10, 2017 — As the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission (LWFC) and Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries continue to work towards a resolution regarding the management of red snapper, the LWFC invited representatives from the Louisiana commercial, charter and private sectors to their monthly meeting to provide input. Two representatives from each sector expressed their respective group’s concerns and comments on the topic.

The department urges Louisiana red snapper fishermen to voice their opinions and will continue to accept public comments on red snapper management via their website and email. Individuals interested in submitting a comment can visit the department’s homepage and navigate to the ‘red snapper management’ button, click here or email redsnapper@wlf.la.gov.

Read the full story at The Fishing Wire

SAFMC News Release: Upcoming Meetings Will Address Federal Fisheries Management Issues

April 7, 2017 — The following was released by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council:

Fishermen and others interested in federal fishery management issues will want to mark their calendars for upcoming meetings that may affect fishing for snapper grouper, mackerel, cobia, dolphin and wahoo, as well as policies affecting essential fish habitat and ecosystem-based management and the harvest of spiny lobster. The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council will hold several advisory panel meetings as well as a meeting of the Council’s Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) and the SSC Socio-Economic Panel in the coming weeks. A public hearing for issues affecting spiny lobster will be held via webinar in May.

The Council’s advisory panel members, representing recreational fishermen, charter captains, commercial fishermen, seafood dealers and others knowledgeable about fisheries issues, provide grassroot input into the fishery management process. The Council’s Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) and Socio-Economic Panel are responsible for reviewing the scientific basis of Council management plans and actions and developing fishing level recommendations in accordance with national fisheries guidelines. Members of the SSC include stock assessment scientists, economists, biologists, sociologists, and others knowledgeable about fisheries in the South Atlantic.

Additional information about the meetings is listed below, including meeting agendas, overviews, and briefing book materials are posted on the Council’s website (see details below). Members of the public are invited to attend all meetings and encouraged to participate in the spiny lobster public hearing via webinar. The SSC and advisory panel meetings will also be accessible online via webinar as they occur. Webinar registration is required and details are posted on the meeting pages of the website.

Advisory Panel Meeting Agenda Highlights

Meeting Materials: The AP meeting materials and webinar registration information is now available at: http://safmc.net/safmc-meetings/current-advisory-panel-meetings/.

Meeting Locations: With the exception of the Habitat Advisory Panel and Law Enforcement Advisory Panel, all of the following advisory panel meetings will be held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, 4831 Tanger Outlet Blvd., North Charleston, SC 29418, phone: 843/744-4422.

April 17-19, 2017 Snapper Grouper Advisory Panel Meeting

Red snapper management options to reduce discards, improve the survival of released fish, and improve recreational reporting (Amendment 43)
Vision Blueprint Regulatory Amendment 26 (Recreational) – measures include modifications to aggregate bag limits, reducing minimum size limits for black sea bass and gray triggerfish, and changes to the current spawning season closure for shallow-water grouper
Vision Blueprint Regulatory Amendment 27 (Commercial) – measures include options for split seasons, shallow-water grouper season closure, and trip limits for the Jacks complex
Limited-entry for the for-hire (charter) fishery

April 19-20, 2017 – Mackerel Cobia and Cobia Sub-Panel Advisory Panel Meeting

Updates on Atlantic cobia recreational fishing season, upcoming stock assessment, and ongoing cobia research
Atlantic Spanish mackerel – possible limited entry for federal commercial permits, and gillnet endorsements
King mackerel – latent commercial permits, Atlantic king mackerel trip limits on Spanish mackerel gillnet trips

April 21, 2017 – Dolphin Wahoo Advisory Panel Meeting

Dolphinfish Research Program presentation
Update on South Atlantic Council actions including recent changes to commercial trip limits for dolphin and the status of electronic reporting requirements for charter vessels
AP input on management options including the definition of Optimum Yield for dolphin,management of annual catch limits, allowable gear in the commercial fishery for dolphin and wahoo, and operator card requirements.

May 16-17, 2017 – Habitat Protection and Ecosystem-Based Management

Advisory Panel Meeting

Meeting Location: Town & Country Inn, 2008 Savannah Highway, Charleston, SC 29407

Continued development of the Council’s Fishery Ecosystem Plan II
Draft Essential Fish Habitat Policy Statement for Artificial Reefs
Presentation by the Sargasso Sea Commission

May 18-19, 2017 – Law Enforcement Advisory Panel Meeting

Meeting Location: Town & Country Inn, 2008 Savannah Highway, Charleston, SC 29407

Updates on recent Council actions and the electronic reporting pilot program for charter vessels
Possible changes to Operator Permits to improve utility
Enforcement of fishery closures
Retention of recreational bag limits when citations are issued and other issues

Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) and Social & Economic Sub-Panel Meeting – April 24 – April 27, 2017

Analysis of fishing behavior, a socio-economic analysis of the snapper grouper fishery, and economic and social indicators of stock abundance top the agenda for a meeting of the Social & Economic Sub-panel of the Council’s SSC beginning on April 24th. Members of the SSC will then convene for the next three days to discuss scientific issues affecting the upcoming stock assessment for vermilion snapper, golden tilefish projections, approaches for obtaining an acceptable biological catch for red snapper, black sea bass bag and size limit analysis, and uncertainty in the Marine Recreational Information Program estimates and discuss a possible joint meeting of the South Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council’s SSCs in the future to address these estimates. Public comment will be accepted during the SSC meeting and the meeting is available via webinar. Registration is required. Additional information will be posted at: http://safmc.net/safmc-meetings/scientific-and-statistical-committee-meetings/ as it becomes available. Meeting location: Town & Country Inn, 2008 Savannah Highway, Charleston, SC 29407

Spiny Lobster Regulatory Amendment 4 Public Hearing via Webinar

May 9, 2017 at 6:00 p.m.

Spiny lobster in federal waters from North Carolina to Texas are managed jointly by the Gulf of Mexico and South Atlantic Fishery Management Councils. The South Atlantic Council will hold a public hearing via webinar to address management measures proposed in Regulatory Amendment 4 to the Spiny Lobster Fishery Management Plan. Actions in the amendment address biological parameters such as acceptable biological catch (ABC) for spiny lobster in both the South Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico following a recent stock assessment. The amendment would also prevent the use of lobster traps for recreational harvest in federal waters in the South Atlantic. Additional information, including webinar registration and public hearing documents and presentations will be posted at: http://safmc.net/safmc-meetings/public-hearing-and-scoping-meeting-schedule/by April 25, 2017.

A PDF copy of this news release is available from the Council’s website.

Restaurateur accused of operating illegal seafood network

April 6, 2017 — A well-known Houston restaurateur has been accused of operating an illegal seafood network that allegedly funneled nearly 28,000 pounds of unlawfully-caught finfish through his restaurants.

Texas game wardens allege that Bruce Molzan, 59, bought and then sold the illegal finfish off the menus at Ruggles Green and Ruggles Black. Molzan hasn’t been associated with Ruggles Green since 2016 but still owns Ruggles Black.

In addition, another restaurant illegally sold shrimp to Molzan for use in his restaurants in violation of commercial fish wholesale regulations, according to investigators.

The illegal catches were made by a web of about a dozen unlicensed commercial fishermen and sold to the restaurants, according to Texas Parks & Wildlife investigators. Their catches consisted primarily of highly-regulated red snapper, along with other protected game fish species, including tuna, amberjack, grouper and red drum.

The investigation expanded significantly last April after U.S. Coast Guard crews stopped an unlicensed commercial fishing boat in coastal waters near Freeport with 488 red snapper weighing approximately 1,900 pounds. Texas game wardens and the National Marine Fisheries Service seized the fish, which were illegally caught in the Gulf of Mexico off Freeport and Galveston, and investigators were able to link the subjects with the illegal seafood operation.

“This is a big deal and exemplifies the critically important work our Texas game wardens do to protect the state’s natural resources,” said Col. Craig Hunter, TPWD law enforcement director. “Not only did these unscrupulous actors violate recreational fishing regulations at an extreme level for personal profit, but they also circumvented restrictions and rules governing the possession, safe handling and sale of commercial aquatic products intended for human consumption.”

Read the full story at WTSP

Texas game wardens bust massive illegal seafood network

April 6, 2017 — A Houston chef is being accused by state wildlife officials of participating in an illegal seafood network that funneled tons of unlawfully caught fish to his businesses.

The network is made up of about a dozen unlicensed commercial fishermen who caught fish off the Texas coast and sold them to Houston-area restaurants, state wildlife officials said. The catches included protected fish species, including red snapper, tuna, amberjack, grouper and red drum.

State investigators said they suspect the network began operating in 2013, and could be the largest of its kind in Texas history.

“This is a big deal and exemplifies the critically important work our Texas game wardens do to protect the state’s natural resources,” said Col. Craig Hunter, the department’s law enforcement director.

“That is not something we in law enforcement will tolerate and we are confident these individuals will be prosecuted to the fullest extent the law allows.”

A break in the investigation came in April 2016, when the U.S. Coast Guard stopped a commercial fishing boat in coastal waters near Freeport. The boat was carrying 1,900 pounds of red snapper.

Read the full story at the Galveston County Daily News

Senator Shelby leads way on more data on Gulf red snapper populations

March 27, 2017 — Alabama Sen. Richard Shelby paved the way for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to land a multimillion-dollar grant to innovate Gulf of Mexico reef-fish survey assessments and technologies.

This $9.5 million grant program, authored by Shelby, is directed by the 2016 Appropriations Act. The goal is to produce a more-accurate estimate of Gulf red snapper populations and improve fishing access.

Read the full story at the Sun Herald