Officials in Florida will begin holding meetings next month to discuss next year’s red snapper recreational fishery season in the Gulf of Mexico.
Those sessions come after the state’s first year in a pilot program that gave the state recreational management rights in federal waters. Florida ended up surpassing its quota by more than 13 percent as anglers in the state reported landing more than two million pounds this season.
That will likely lead to a shorter season next year, as the state must make up for the overage. Officials with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission expect their catch limit to be about 1.7 million pounds, which would allow for a 32-day season starting next June. That estimate includes accounting for this year’s overage plus a quota increase proposed by the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council that awaits U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross’ approval.
Florida’s 2019 limit would roughly be 100,000 pounds less than the 2018 quota.
The subject will be discussed at the commission’s 12 December meeting in St. Augustine. In addition, the commission plans to hold public forums in Pensacola on Tuesday 4 December and in Destin the following day. Additional hearings are scheduled for the Tampa Bay and Fort Meyers areas in January.
Commission officials are expected to finalize the season calendar in January.
This year marked the first of a two-year pilot where federal officials ceded some control of the red snapper fishery in Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas. Officials in those five states received approval to manage the recreational programs in both state waters, which run for nine miles off the coast, and federal waters, which extend beyond that.
Florida’s recreational season ran from 11 June to 21 July, more than two weeks longer than the 2017 season.Florida Governor Rick Scott said in a press release touting the expansion that the Gulf recreational fishing industry had a USD 7.6 billion (EUR 6.7 billion) economic impact on the state and increasing opportunities would attract more fishermen and provide an even greater economic impact.
Other states involved in the program also touted the ability to offer recreational fishermen additional days on the water.
Florida’s overage has generated some concerns about the pilot program and how the recreational fishery is managed. Earlier this year, federal officials removed red snapper from its overfished list.
Share the Gulf – a coalition of seafood industry, restaurant and conservationists – has generally been supportive of the pilot program. However, a coalition member told SeafoodSource the group has noticed some disturbing trends it wants to see addressed.
“For example, it appears recreational fishermen are increasingly circumventing the mandatory reporting requirements by simply canceling their trips on [their] smartphone apps if they complete a fishing trip without being interdicted by marine enforcement,” Director of Mississippi Commercial Fisheries United Inc. Ryan Bradley said. “Nonetheless, the EFPs are a step in the right direction, but we are encouraging fishery managers to proceed with caution until measures can be implemented to thwart abuses of the systems. Recreational overfishing continues to be a major threat to Gulf fisheries and not just with red snapper.”
Florida wasn’t the only state to exceed its quota. Alabama ended up surpassing its allotment of 984,291 pounds by slightly more than 2,000 pounds.
Like Florida, Alabama will have to account for its overage in next year’s allocation, NOAA spokeswoman Jennie Lyons told SeafoodSource.
“We expect that each state will adjust their seasons in 2019 to account for any changes in their allocation,” she said.
Louisiana officials reported landings totaling 737,229 pounds, representing 99.2 percent of the state’s quota. Mississippi’s 131,914 pounds caught equaled 95.6 percent of its limit. Meanwhile, Texas officials, as of earlier this month, showed its anglers caught 171,205 pounds, or 71 percent of its quota.
The commercial fishery, which is still open through 31 December, has caught nearly 5.8 million pounds of red snapper. It has roughly 527,000 pounds remaining in its quota.
