The Southeastern U.S. red snapper fishery will remain closed for the remainder of 2015 as this year’s catch has nearly doubled the allowable catch limit set for the fishery.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Fisheries Service said that the estimated harvest in 2014 was 205,859 fish, far more than the 106,000-fish limit that had been set. The closure impacts both the commercial and recreational fisheries in south Atlantic federal waters.
In 2013, the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council developed, and NOAA Fisheries implemented, a standardized process that specifies harvesting may only occur in a given year if total removals (landings plus dead discards) in the previous year were less than the number allowed for population rebuilding.
The process will be repeated next year to determine if there will be a season. The next assessment of the south Atlantic red snapper population is scheduled for 2016 and the total allowable harvest may change as a result of the population assessment.
