Snapper Archives - Page 3 of 8

Commercial Red Snapper Harvest Closes in South Atlantic Today

November 7, 2018 — The following bulletin was published by the Fishing Wire:

WHAT/WHEN:

The commercial harvest of red snapper in federal waters of the South Atlantic will close at 12:01 a.m., local time, on November 7, 2018, and unless specified otherwise, will open on July 8, 2019, for the 2019 commercial fishing season. During the commercial closure, all sale or purchase of red snapper is prohibited.
All harvest or possession of red snapper in or from federal waters is now prohibited, as the recreational fishing season is also closed for 2018.

WHY THIS CLOSURE IS HAPPENING:

The 2018 commercial catch limit is 124,815 pounds whole weight. Commercial landings are projected to reach the commercial catch limit. According to the accountability measure, harvest should close to prevent the annual 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 red snapper does not apply to fish that were harvested, landed ashore, and sold prior to 12:01 a.m. on November 7, 2018, and were held in cold storage by a dealer or processor.

Grouper, snapper, cod? Mislabeling is rampant in the seafood industry

October 22, 2018 — Recent investigations and studies have shown mislabeling – sometimes due to error but often the result of outright fraud – is rampant in the seafood industry, showing up both in the marketplace and on restaurant menus.

One study of retailers found seafood like grouper, cod and snapper may be mislabeled up to 87 percent of the time, swapped out for less desirable and cheaper varieties. For example, only seven of the 120 samples of red snapper were actually red snapper.

CBS News’ Meg Oliver spoke to Vinny Millbourn, who hails from a long line of fishermen. The fishmonger at Greenpoint Fish and Lobster Company in Brooklyn, New York, specializes in local, domestic and traceable species. His storefront acts as a fish market, raw bar and restaurant.

“It’s a very big problem and the issue is once it’s prepared, there’s really no way to check it other than DNA testing which a lot of companies are now doing,” Millbourn said. “So I have a have a network of small boat fisherman and wharfs all over the country that are shipping to me daily through the air or by truck. And we are processing every single day to bring in high-quality fresh seafood.”

Millbourn not only knows where his fish come from he can tell a tale about each one. That personal connection is hard to find, but is a good sign. It’s estimated that more than 90 percent of the seafood consumed in the U.S. is imported, and less than one percent is tested by the government.

Read the full story at CBS News

South Atlantic Fishery Management Council Meeting September 16-21, 2018

September 4, 2018 — The following was released by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council:

Members of the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council will meet in September to address federal fishery management measures affecting offshore fisheries including snapper grouper, king and Spanish mackerel, spiny lobster, and habitat protection and ecosystem-based management. The meeting is open to the public unless otherwise specified, and public comment is now being accepted on agenda items.

Agendas, Overviews, and Briefing Materials:
The agenda for the week long meeting as well as individual committee agendas and helpful overviews are available from the Council meeting website. Documents, summaries, presentations, and other briefing materials for the meeting are also available.

Attend the Meeting via Webinar:
The meeting may be accessed via webinar each day as it occurs. Registration for each day is required. Register now and receive email reminders for the upcoming sessions.
– Monday, September 17 2:30 pm – 5 pm
– Tuesday, September 18 8:30 am – 5 pm
– Wednesday, September 19 8:30 am – 6 pm
– Thursday, September 20 8:30 am – 5 pm
– Friday, September 21 8:30 am – 12:00 pm

Public Comment:
Comments on agenda items may be submitted using the online comment form. The form allows Council members immediate access to all comments and gives others the opportunity to read comments as they are posted. The Council will also solicit public comment during the meeting beginning at 4:00 PM on Wednesday, September 19, 2018.

Agenda Highlights:
Final Approval: The Council is scheduled to approve four amendments for review by the Secretary of Commerce during the meeting. The amendments address vermilion snapper and black sea bass fishing levels, commercial king mackerel trip limits, use of bully nets in the spiny lobster fishery, and commercial measures as outlined in the Council’s Vision Blueprint for the Snapper Grouper Fishery.

Species Migration Northward
Representatives from the New England Fishery Management Council and the Mid-Atlantic Council will come together during the Habitat Protection and Ecosystem-Based Management Committee meeting to discuss changes in migratory patterns being observed as ocean temperatures continue to warm and other environmental changes occur.

Additional agenda highlights are available online. Access all of the meeting information, submit comments, and listen live as the meeting occurs.

SAFMC: Reminder! Applications for Advisory Panels and System Management Plan Workgroup Due

August 21, 2018 — The following was released by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council:

If you are considering applying for an open seat on one of the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council’s advisory panels or serving as a fisherman on the Council’s new System Management Plan Workgroup, today is the day to do so!

Applications must be received by tomorrow, August 22, 2018 for consideration by the Council during its September 16-20, 2018 meeting. Complete the online application using the instructions below.

Applications are being solicited for the following advisory panel positions:

Coral Advisory Panel

(3) Open Seats

Dolphin Wahoo Advisory Panel

(1) SC Open Seat
(1) GA Open Seat

Habitat and Ecosystem-Based Management Advisory Panel

(1) NC Commercial
(1) NC Conservation
(1) FL Recreational
(1) FL Commercial
(1) At-Large Research/Geologist Seat

Law Enforcement Advisory Panel

(2) Recreational Seats

Mackerel Cobia Advisory Panel

(3) Open Seats

Snapper Grouper Advisory Panel

(3) NC Open Seats
(1) SC Open Seat
(1) GA Open Seat
(2) Florida Open Seats
(1) NGO Seat

The Council is also soliciting applicants to represent commercial and recreational interests on its System Management Plan (SMP) Workgroup. The newly formed workgroup will provide recommendations on managed areas in federal waters under the Council’s jurisdiction. The Council currently has system management plans in place for Deepwater Marine Protected Areas, Spawning Special Management Zones, and the Oculina Experimental Closed Area. Additional areas will be added, with the goal to eventually have a single System Management Plan in place for all managed areas.

Mark Eustis: Magnuson — act now

June 26, 2018 — If you are not tracking changes to the Magnuson-Stevens Act, it’s time to put it on your radar. Washington lobbyists working for the recreational fishing industry are trying to rewrite America’s fisheries laws to serve their own interests, and commercial fishermen could be left at the dock.

Gulf Coast groups that once were grass-roots conservationists are now a multi-million-dollar advocacy business — complete with a political action committee funded by recreational marine manufacturers. This PAC is lobbying hard to change Magnuson, and the results are two new bills in Congress — S. 1520 and H.R. 200.

Among many, many changes, each of these acts “modifies the annual catch limit requirement to allow for more adaptive approaches” to “increase access” for recreational anglers. And most importantly for commercial fishermen, they allow for reallocation based on “socioeconomic benefits.” This is a zero-sum taking that will affect commercial fisheries. Eric Brazer said it well here in “Sustainability in the crosshairs” (NF Oct. 2017):

“Reallocating more fish to the recreational sector at the expense of the commercial sector does nothing to solve the fundamental problems… Nobody knows precisely how many recreational red snapper fishermen there are or how many fish they catch.”

Read the full op-ed at National Fisherman

NOAA Fisheries: Commercial Closure for Yellowtail Snapper in South Atlantic Federal Waters on June 5, 2018

May 31, 2018 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

WHAT/WHEN:

The commercial harvest of yellowtail snapper in federal waters of the South Atlantic will close at 12:01 a.m., local time, June 5, 2018. During the commercial closure, all sale or purchase of yellowtail snapper is prohibited, and harvest or possession of yellowtail snapper in or from federal waters is limited to the recreational bag and possession limits while the recreational fishery is open.

WHY THIS CLOSURE IS HAPPENING:

The August 2017 through July 2018 commercial catch limit is 1,596,510 pounds whole weight. Commercial landings are projected to reach 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 August 2018 through July 2019 yellowtail snapper season in the South Atlantic will open on August 1, 2018, with a 1,596,510 pounds whole weight catch limit.

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

Red snapper season gains length this year

May 31, 2018 — The Gulf of Mexico off Texas’ upper and middle coast is likely to be a bit bumpy now through the weekend as a moderate, 10- to 15-knot south wind is predicted to kick up 2- to 4-foot seas in offshore waters. Add a little wind-chop and tight wave intervals to the mix, and the open Gulf could be irritatingly, if not nauseatingly, uncomfortable for recreational anglers bouncing, rolling and pitching in the Gulf in 20- to 26-foot fishing boats.

But that’s not likely to blunt the number of Texas-based anglers heading offshore beginning Friday. They have reason to be encouraged and excited. Friday marks the opening of what promises to be the longest red snapper fishing season in more than a decade for Texas recreational anglers fishing from private boats in waters beyond the state’s jurisdictional boundary.

After two decades of seeing recreational fishing season for red snapper in Gulf water under federal jurisdiction (beyond 9 nautical miles) steadily shrink from year-round until 1997 to as few as 11 days in 2016, Texas anglers fishing in federal waters will this year be able to catch and retain the Gulf’s most popular reef fish for what state fisheries managers project will be an 82-day season.

That 82-day season, tentatively set to end Aug. 21, is almost double 2017’s 42-day federal-water season for private-boat anglers, nearly eight times 2016’s 11-day season and the longest since a 194-day season in 2007. The federal-water recreational snapper limit will remain two snapper per day with a 16-inch minimum length requirement.

Read the full story at the Houston Chronicle

More groups weigh in on red snapper actions

May 30, 2018 — A commercial fishing group is the latest to express hope that a test program that gives states more control over recreational red snapper fishing will benefit the Gulf of Mexico fishery overall.

Louisiana’s season started Friday and will remain open until state figures show the federally approved quota of 743,000 pounds for sport fishermen has been met.

The action comes after the state Wildlife and Fisheries Department won federal approval last month to oversee fishing of the popular species in federal waters up to 200 miles offshore both this year and in 2019.

Under the Exempted Fishing Permit, or EFP, sport fishermen are limited to two red snapper a day at least 16 inches in length. The state will use its LA Creel program to monitor catch totals.

Sport fishing groups, in earlier comments, welcomed the action.

Last week, it drew qualified praise from the Gulf of Mexico Reef Fish Shareholders’ Alliance, which represents commercial red snapper fishermen.

Read the full story at the Daily Comet

Red snapper removed from ‘overfished’ list

May 29, 2018 — After several years of debate mixed with rancor, among a handful of marine biologists and well-funded environmental organizations, federal fisheries managers declared Gulf of Mexico’ red snapper stocks no longer fall into the “overfished” classification.

The news came earlier this month when the 2017 Status of U.S. Fisheries Report was sent to Congress.

Red snapper were among five species removed from the “overfished” list. Others were the gray triggerfish in the Gulf of Mexico, yelloweye rockfish and Pacific ocean perch along the Pacific Coast and winter flounder on the Georges Bank.

Bluefin tuna was also on that listing in the western Atlantic, but the report read, “… due to significant scientific uncertainty, the status of this stock cannot be determined following a 2017 assessment.”

The report drew praise from the recreational fishing community, which has insisted red snapper stocks, especially stocks in the western Gulf of Mexico should have been off the overfished list at least three years ago, but that stocks in the eastern gulf dragged down the overall red snappers Gulf-wide.

Six other species, including sailfish in the western Atlantic, were removed from the “overfishing” list.

Read the full story at the Acadiana Advocate

2 Gulf States: Recreational Red Snapper Season Opens Friday

May 25, 2018 — BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Recreational red snapper seasons open Friday in state and federal waters off Louisiana and Mississippi. Openings are scheduled June 1 off Texas and Alabama and June 11 off of Florida‘s west coast for anglers after the popular sport and table fish.

The states announced those dates in April, after the federal government authorized two-year experimental permits to let states along the Gulf of Mexico manage recreational seasons for red snapper.

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