Saving Seafood

Fishermen, environmentalists battle over red snapper

July 25, 2015 — WASHINGTON — Red snapper has become the focus of the battle between fisherman and environmentalists, and the catalyst for members of Congress, who represent Gulf Coast states, to push legislation that would allow for longer seasons and larger limits.

The fish has become the symbol of recreational fishers’ frustration with federal management.

Anglers say they are now seeing an abundance of the early maturing reef fish that can live to the age of 57.

Rep. Garret Graves, R-La., introduced a bill Thursday that would transfer management of the red snapper fishery from the federal government to five Gulf states out to nine miles from shore. Currently, state management ends at 3 miles offshore in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. (Texas and Florida state waters extend to 9 miles already).

“When I was growing up, we could fish snapper year round; this year’s recreational season was just 10 days,” Graves said. “Our state-based approach will eliminate failed federal fish management that saw only one weekend of red snapper fishing in federal waters, while preventing overfishing.”

Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Tuscaloosa, Ala., has included similar language in an appropriations bill heading to the floor.

In many ways, the battle over red snapper is emblematic of the conflict over the nation’s fishing laws. Lawmakers are caught between environmentalists and the fishermen back home.

Read the full story at The Montgomery Advertiser 

 

Gulf of Mexico Reef Fish Shareholders’ Alliance Support for the Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) Fishing Act of 2015 (H.R. 774)

July 28, 2015 — The following was released by the Gulf of Mexico Reef Fish Shareholders’ Alliance:

The Gulf of Mexico Reef Fish Shareholders’ Alliance (Shareholders’ Alliance) and the commercial fishermen and women we represent are strong advocates for sustainable management of our marine resources in the Gulf of Mexico. We believe that healthy fish populations bring stable fishing businesses, profitable fishing communities, and a stable source of sustainable, domestically-harvested seafood that Americans consumer deserve to enjoy.

The Gulf’s red snapper population continues to rebound thanks to a sustainable commercial management plan. Quotas are increasing for everyone, red snapper are getting larger, and are being caught more easily by many fishermen from Texas to Florida. Unfortunately, this rebound brings with it a new threat – the poaching of red snapper and other reef fish my Mexican fishermen illegally fishing in US waters.

“Mexican nationals routinely and illegally enter U.S. sovereign waters off the coast of Texas and other Gulf states to steal the fish we’ve worked hard to rebuild,” said Buddy Guindon, Executive Director of the Gulf of Mexico Reef Fish Shareholders’ Alliance, commercial fisherman and owner of Katie’s Seafood Market in Galveston, Texas. According to U.S. Coast Guard data more than 1,100 illegal fishing operations happen each year, harvesting three- quarters-of-a-million pounds of fish annually. Many of these illegally-caught fish end up back in US markets, impacting the bottom line of thousands of U.S. commercial fishing businesses. “It’s too bad that all the US Coast Guard can do right now after catching these fishermen is confiscate their boat and what they’ve caught, and send them back over the boarder to Mexico,” said Steve Tomeny, commercial and charter fisherman from Port Fourchon, Louisiana. “There they just find another boat and head back into US waters to continue poaching.”

Read the full release here

 

Gulf fishermen react to bill that would transfer Red-snapper control to states

July 20, 2015 — Rep. Garret Graves (R-Baton Rouge) on Thursday introduced legislation that would transfer control of Gulf of Mexico red-snapper stocks from the National Marine Fisheries Service to a consortium established by the five Gulf states.

Graves said similar protocols have been successfully implemented along the East Coast and in Alaska, adding that “state-based management will result in more frequent stock assessments and improved regional collaboration in the collection and use of timely fishery data.”

Fisheries directors from Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida have grown displeased with federal red-snapper management, and began a concerted effort earlier this year to wrest control of the fishery from NMFS.

Gulf of Mexico recreational anglers have seen their access to booming red snapper stocks dwindle in recent years. In 2015, the private-boat recreational season stretched only 10 days, even though the overall harvest quota was the largest in history.

Read the full story at The Times Picayune

 

Shareholders’ Alliance statement on red snapper legislation

July 16, 2015 — The following was released by The Gulf of Mexico Reef Fish Shareholders’ Alliance:

The Gulf of Mexico Reef Fish Shareholders’ Alliance (Shareholders’ Alliance) and the commercial fishermen and women we represent stand strong in supporting the sustainable federal management of our nation’s commercial red snapper fishery. We are able to build stable, long-term business plans; we live within sustainable limits; and we can provide the American seafood consumer with sustainable, fresh, Gulf of Mexico red snapper. The commercial red snapper management plan is working.

That’s why we cannot support any legislative attempt to strip the commercial red snapper fishery away from federal mangers and turn it over to the Gulf states. This plan, developed by the fishery directors of the five Gulf states in a secret backdoor meeting without any fishermen allowed in the room, threatens to eliminate the commercial red snapper fishery and the of tens of thousands jobs it supports in order to bring fresh red snapper to your plates.

Our federal fisheries law, the Magnuson-Stevens Conservation and Management Act (MSA), requires that sustainable fishing limits be identified and adhered to, conservation be promoted and that unhealthy fish stocks be rebuilt to healthy levels. It is these protections that have helped bring red snapper back to some of the highest levels in recent history. Turning the commercial red snapper fishery over to the Gulf states through an act of legislation will allow them to undermine our federal fisheries law and sidestep these conservation protections. Over forty commercial fishing organizations from throughout the Nation, representing thousands of commercial fishermen and tens of millions of pounds of commercially important seafood, support us as we work to protect our businesses and consumer access to red snapper.

Read the full release from the Gulf of Mexico Reef Shareholder’s Alliance here