U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration has announced USD 2 million (EUR 1.8 million) to help red snapper populations recover in the Gulf of Mexico.
“This USD 2 million investment, made possible thanks to President Biden’s historic Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), will boost NOAA’s ability to support red snapper populations by expanding scientific partnerships that improve data collection and help us understand and mitigate the impacts of climate change on fisheries in coastal regions nationwide,” U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said.
The money was drawn from the USD 20 million (EUR 18 million) in IRA funding the Biden administration dedicated to boosting Red Snapper science in the southeast in October 2023. In total, the IRA provided the Biden administration USD 2.6 billion (EUR 2.4 billion) to spend on coastal resilience and fisheries support.
“We know climate change is impacting many fish species, and these effects are not fully understood,” NOAA Fisheries Assistant Administrator Janet Coit said when the funding was initially announced. “With our partners at the Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission, we are working to improve state and federal recreational data collection so we can provide even more robust data and metrics to our fishing communities.”
Half of the money will go to the Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission to expand its for-hire at-sea program into the western Gulf of Mexico. The funding will enable the commission to deploy at-sea samplers in the Louisiana and Texas fisheries, meaning that there will be data collection programs for for-hire fisheries in all five Gulf states for the first time.
The rest of the money will go to NOAA’s Cooperative Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Studies at the University of Miami. The institute is developing next-generation acoustic surveys that can improve red snapper detection. The project will use “advanced technology and artificial intelligence to enhance red snapper surveys and abundance estimates.”
“NOAA Fisheries’ collaborations with state and academic organizations are a critical part of strengthening scientific rigor and improving data collection for recreational fisheries, leading to more timely and accurate information for managing red snapper and other reef fish,” Coit said of the new awards. “Greater data certainty will enable NOAA Fisheries and state partners to better address the effects of climate change on fisheries and fishing communities."
Recreational fishermen – as well as lawmakers in Congress – have been critical of NOAA Fisheries’ assessments of red snapper stocks, arguing that the population is far more abundant than official counts. In 2023, the U.S. House’s Natural Resources Committee advanced the Red Snapper Act, legislation that would stop NOAA from closing areas in the South Atlantic to red snapper fishing until the completion of the Great Red Snapper Count.
The count is an independent study to provide an alternative assessment of the red snapper population. Lawmakers have been keen to fund the project, which is set to deliver results in 2025. The House’s annual spending bill funding NOAA provides USD 5 million (EUR 4.6 million) for the Great Red Snapper Count, while the Senate version includes USD 1 million (EUR 9 million). In September, Congress passed a continuing resolution to put off most 2025 budget decisions until after the 2024 election in November.
