Saving Seafood

Federal court rules against challenge to red snapper quotas

January 5, 2016 — A federal judge in New Orleans on Tuesday rejected a challenge to the Gulf Council’s red snapper fishing quotas for the next three years.

The plaintiffs, challenged the legality of Amendment 40 to the Gulf Council’s Reef Fish Fishery Management Plan and the associated rule which sets fishing quotas and seasons for 2015-17.

The plaintiffs argued that under the federal Magnuson-Stevens Act, the Gulf Council is prohibited from regulating charter fishing separately from recreational fishing. Also, that the Gulf Council and the National Marine Fisheries Service did not “assess, specify and analyze” the economic and social effects of Amendment 40, that the amendment makes an unfair and inequitable allocation of fishing resources and the Council improperly delegated authority to the National Marine Fisheries Service.

Amendment 40 defines the partitioning of the recreational sector. All four arguments were struck down.

Read the full story at the Daily Comet

Gulf Congressional Delegation Teams for Big Win for Gulf Reef Fish Accountability in 2016 Omnibus Appropriations Act

December 19, 2015 — The Fiscal Year 2016 Omnibus Appropriations Act heading to the White House for a Presidential signature includes $10 million for Gulf of Mexico fisheries data collection, stock assessments and research due to the tireless efforts led by Alabama’s Senator Richard Shelby, Chairman of the Senate’s Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies, and Florida’s 13th District Representative David Jolly, who sits on the House’s Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice and Science.

Additionally, the bill directs NOAA to count fish on artificial reefs and offshore energy exploration infrastructure, and incorporate those counts into future stock assessments and management decisions for reef fish in the Gulf of Mexico.  It provides continued support for electronic monitoring and reporting to collect real-time data that is more economical and efficient than current management processes. According to Senator Shelby, who authored the provisions for red snapper in the legislation, the 2016 omnibus provides up to $5 million for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) National Sea Grant College program to support external research and development through its network of academic institutions for a red snapper tagging study in the Gulf of Mexico.  In addition, it provides $5 million for independent, non-NOAA stock assessments for Gulf reef fish, including red snapper.

“Commercial and recreational anglers across the Gulf Coast depend on the red snapper fishery, which is not only a key economic driver, but also integral to their way of life,” Senator Shelby told Gulf Seafood News. “That is why I pushed to include common-sense reforms in this year’s omnibus bill to ensure that both commercial and recreational fishermen have increased access to the red snapper population in the Gulf.”

Read the full story at Gulf Seafood Institute

Rep. Jolly teams with GSI’s Hogarth on Gulf Red Snapper Legislation

November 30, 2015 — One of the largest issues both commercial and recreational fishers face is getting both fishermen and regulators to have faith in the data, especially when it comes to Gulf of Mexico reef fish. Recently introduced legislation by Congressman David Jolly of Florida will hopefully lead to a more accurate count of red snapper and other reef fish in the Gulf of Mexico.

The Gulf Red Snapper Data Improvement Act recently introduced in the House of Representatives by Rep. Jolly will allow for third-party data collection of fish populations to be used for federal stock assessments, which could ultimately lead to longer red snapper fishing seasons for the recreational sectors.

“Nobody trusts the data anymore,” said Dr. Bill Hogarth, Director of the Florida Institute of Oceanography and a Board member of the Gulf Seafood Institute. “Fishermen are on the water everyday and they see what is happening. When you are doing a stock assessment now, you are working with data that is at least two years old. Things change. We have to get more real time data, and this legislation is a good start.”

Rep. Jolly’s bill designates $10 million annually for third-party data collection of Gulf Red Snapper and other Gulf reef species. The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) Southeast Regional Office located in St. Petersburg, Florida would manage the data collection program. A member of the powerful House Committee on Appropriations, Jolly was able to secure similar language in the fiscal year 2016 House Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies Bill earlier this year.

Read the full story at Gulf Seafood Institute

 

 

Robert Helmick: Red Snapper bill seeks better data, better fishery

November 8, 2015 — Over the years, I, like many of you, have become frustrated with the state of fisheries management in our region. What’s especially frustrating is the lack of investment in more timely and accurate ways to collect the information we need to ensure that we keep fish populations and coastal businesses thriving. Millions of people in this area rely directly or indirectly on our fishery resources to support our families. Each management decision made by federal and state resource managers affects us financially. As it stands, sometimes those decisions must be made without sufficient, quality information.

Thankfully, there is now a solution, or at least a step forward in the right direction, before Congress. If passed, Congressman David Jolly’s (R-St. Petersburg) latest legislation, the Gulf Red Snapper Data Improvement Act (H.R. 3521), would allocate an additional $10 million annually for the collection and contribution of fishery data by recreational and charter/for-hire fishermen. Such an investment would significantly contribute to more timely and accurate federal stock assessments of reef fishes, including the Gulf’s iconic red snapper and red grouper.

Not only does the bill provide the investments needed to manage reef fish fisheries better, it includes a plan for collaboration between scientists, fishermen and decision makers.

Read the full story at the Florida Herald-Tribune

Red Snapper Continues Dominance at Galveston Gulf Council Meeting

October 26, 2015 — Regional management of the Gulf red snapper fishery continued to be a hot topic during the last Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council of 2015 held at the Hilton Galveston Island hotel. While the council also addressed important fishery issues concerning gag, black grouper, and shrimp, Gulf red snapper remained the biggest issue to dominate the Council’s time.

The Council continued discussions on Reef Fish Amendment 39 which would divide the recreational red snapper quota among regions to allow for the creation of different management measures better suited for each area. If enacted, the Council has selected to sunset the action five years after implementation. Currently, the Council has selected a preferred alternative that would sunset the action five years after implementation.

Charter boats across the Gulf of Mexico carry nearly 1.5 million recreational anglers from across the country and around the world on yearly fishing trips. Under the current federal management system, the Gulf federally-permitted charter fleet has a guaranteed allocation of red snapper for customers. Regional management would allow each Gulf state to manage red snapper in predetermined zones corresponding to each state’s land boundaries. Each state would have its own allocation of red snapper, as well as the ability to set fishing season lengths and daily bag limits. Under the current federal management system the federally permitted for-hire fleet and the private angling component have separate red sanpper allocations. Amendment 39 also considers whether to extend or end this separate management of the private angling and federally permitted for-hire components.

“The topic of the day was definitely the controversial red snapper regional management plan,” said Captain Shane Cantrell, Executive Director of the Charter Fisherman’s Association. “The federally permitted charter fleet continues to make it known to the Gulf Council that they do not want to be included in Amendment 39. This was demonstrated again in Galveston during several hours of public comment requesting that the federally permitted charter fleet and private anglers have the opportunity to develop independent management that suits their respective needs.”

On the second day of meetings, Robin Riechers the Director of Coastal Fisheries for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, stated during hearings that Texas federally permitted charter-for-hire captains were in favor of being included in the snapper regional management plan. The following day more than 50 Texas charter operators, a majority of the state’s industry, descended upon the Council voicing their strong opposition to being included stating that Riechers misspoke about their support for the plan.

Read the full story at the Gulf Seafood Institute

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