NOAA Fisheries Finalizes New Red Snapper Regulations
As expected, NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service has published a final rule implementing the approved regulatory actions in Joint Amendment 27 to the Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for the Reef Fish Fishery of the Gulf of Mexico, and Amendment 14 to the FMP for the Shrimp Fishery of the Gulf of Mexico (Amendment 27/14). The rule reduces red snapper catch, bycatch and discard mortality in commercial and recreational fisheries, as well as in the shrimp fishery. These regulations are designed to ensure a reasonable probability of ending red snapper overfishing by 2010 and rebuild the stock by 2032.
These actions became effective Feb. 28, 2008, except for the requirement to use non-stainless steel circle hooks, venting tools and dehooking devices, which becomes effective June 1, 2008.
• Fishing mortality on red snapper will be restricted to a commercial quota of 2.55 million pounds and a recreational quota of 2.45 million pounds.
• Discard mortality in the directed fisheries will be reduced by:
o Reducing the commercial minimum size limit to 13 inches total length.
o Requiring the use of venting tools, dehooking devices and non-stainless steel circle hooks (when using natural baits) for all reef fish fishery sectors.
• Shrimp effort, and the associated bycatch discard mortality of juvenile red snapper, will be controlled, as needed, through time-area closures to ensure shrimp trawl bycatch mortality of red snapper is reduced 74 percent below the 2001-2003 time period. This reduction can be modified in the future as red snapper rebuild.
• The recreational harvest will be constrained to the new quota by reducing the recreational bag limit from four fish to two fish, setting the bag limit for captains and crews of for-hire vessels at zero, and shortening the recreational fishing season to June 1-Sept. 30. The 16-inch total length minimum size limit for recreational fishermen will stay the same.
Copies of the final rule are available by contacting NOAA Fisheries Service’s Southeast Regional Office at 263 13th Avenue South, St. Petersburg, Florida 33701. The final rule can be obtained in electronic form from the Federal Register Web site: http://www.gpoaccess.gov/fr/index.html (use advanced search for final rules using “AT87” as a keyword)
Gray Snapper Moving Up the List
The gray or mangrove snapper (Lutjanus griseus) is getting a lot of interest from coastal anglers who would have fished for red snapper but came up against closed seasons and short bag limits.
The mangrove is a fine fish; a game fighter and excellent table fare. Generally more finicky than the red snapper, anglers often find the need for lighter line and live baits or chum to fool this species. But once the anglers on your boat figure out what these
fish will take, the action can be fast and furious.
Some mangroves can be found in shallower water than red snapper, so that smaller craft can readily exploit this fish on calm days. And limits are much more liberal: 12 inch minimum length, ten fish per day (alone or in combination with queen, blackfin, silk, wenchman, mutton, schoolmaster, cubera, yellowtail, dog and mahogany snappers). Add it all up and we have a fish that is destined to be popular, and the gray snapper is getting more popular by the day. Louisiana recreational landings have been increasing dramatically.
A recent LSU study found that the population structure has been healthy, but raised issues to watch. Between 1998 and 2002, researchers aged 718 gray snapper taken by recreational anglers and found fish ranging from 1 to 28 years. The youngest legal-sized fish were three years old, and all fish had passed the minimum legal size by age four. The majority of fish being brought in were between ages 3 and 12. The heaviest fish in the study weighed 12.8 lbs; the state record is 14.3 lbs.
The researchers also used radiocarbon dating to verify the ages calculated from sectioned otoliths. Fallout from the 1958-65 atmospheric testing of nuclear weapons gives a standard against which carbon-containing hard parts of marine animals can be tested. Rates of incorporation of carbon-14 have been established in many Gulf species.
The calculated mortality rate in Louisiana gray snapper was relatively low, and fishing mortality appeared to be much lower than it was for this species on the southeast coast of Florida. The researchers believed that this species could handle existing fishing pressure without significant impacts to the population. However, in the few years since this study was completed, yearly landings for the recreational fishery have increased by nearly 663,000 pounds. As in most fisheries, regulatory limits on one species usually shift pressure to the next best candidate.
If you want more information, download “Unlocking Gray Snapper Secrets” at www.seagrantfish.lsu.edu/pdfs/lagniappe/2006/04-03-2006.pdf.