A REVERSAL OF FORTUNE FOR GULF RED SNAPPER?

 

For perhaps the last two decades, the recreational red snapper fishery in the Gulf of Mexico has been embroiled in controversy, as fishery managers slowly but successfully rebuild the once-overfished stock, while many recreational fishermen, and the “anglers’ rights” groups that such fishermen support, constantly complain that bag limits are too small, and seasons too short, to support the recreational fishery.

For years, we’ve heard that the National Marine Fisheries Service is undercounting the number of fish in the water, and overcounting recreational landings.  We’ve seen the results of the so-called “Great Red Snapper Count” heralded when it found unexpected numbers of fish living on open, low-profile bottom, and saw the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council’s Scientific and Statistical Committee reviled when it didn’t automatically increase annual catch limits to match the Snapper Count’s findings.

For year after year after year, we’ve heard the organized angling community in the region constantly whine that they aren’t being able to kill nearly enough red snapper, considering how many swim in the Gulf.

But as George and Ira Gershwin noted nearly ten decades ago, “It ain’t necessarily so.”

Although some of the loudest voices in the management debate don’t want to admit it, there are signs that the Gulf’s red snapper population, and in particular the eastern Gulf’s red snapper population, may be in decline.

Over the years, I’ve come to know some charter boat captains down in the Gulf who provide me with running updates on the state of the fishery.  One of the consistent comments I hear is that the fishing isn’t as good as it was a few years ago.

One captain down in Alabama tells me that there are fewer and fewer quality snapper on the inshore reefs, and that he and the rest of the charter boat fleet is having to run farther and farther offshore to find fish of any size, particularly after the season has run for a few days.  

Such comments were reflected in the website of one boat that fishes out of Orange Beach, which advises potential customers that

“A half-day trip during the beginning in June, the first month of red snapper season you may catch a mess, if you work hard and everyone participates (and the fish cooperate).  However, if you come during the second week of June or during July or August, you may catch a few for dinner.  You will catch a lot of smaller fish, but they will likely be too small to harvest.  This is due in part to too much fishing pressure in the areas close to shore.”

The fact that recreational fishermen, who may legally only retain two red snapper per day, can clean most of the legal fish off readily accessible reefs (and because of Alabama’s very active artificial reef program,that state has a lot of readily accessible reefs) provides reason to question whether the snapper population is in as good a shape as some of the more vocal organizations would have folks believe.

Now, there is additional reason to ask whether the red snapper population in the eastern Gulf is headed downhill.

Earlier this year, Florida’s angling press was celebrating the fact that Ron DeSantis, the state’s governor, had declared the longest red snapper season in recent history.  Florida Sportsman magazine wrote,

“How does the 2024 announcement compare to last year’s season?...

“This year, the news is even bigger and better and visitors to the state and resident saltwater anglers on the Gulf side have even more reason to smile as the recreational season for red snapper received a boost of an additional 16 days…And that boost left [Fish and Wildlife Commission] Commission chairman Rodney Barreto quite enthusiastic about the record season’s length…

“In a state with multiple world class freshwater and saltwater angling opportunities from the Panhandle to the Keys, the recreational red snapper season on the Gulf side of Florida is an economic boon for resident anglers and it lures in many who want to sample the fishery while visiting…

“[Fish and Wildlife Commission] officials and the Governor’s office also note that Florida is able to offer this long season in 2024 due to data driven management of the red snapper fishery on the Gulf Coast…”

But it may be that Florida Sportsman, and some of the Florida officials, began gushing about the 2024 season a little too soon.  And it may be that they ought to have taken a second look at the data that is driving red snapper management in the Gulf before extending the season or otherwise relaxing management measures.

An article published on the website of The Destin Log a few days ago announced,

“Destin charter captains on longer red snapper season:  ‘Worst I have seen in a long time.’”

Since Destin is one of the most important recreational red snapper ports—arguably, the most important red snapper port—on the west coast of Florida, a headline like that deserves some real attention.  Apparently, there just weren’t enough red snapper around to justify the length of the season, for as the article noted,

“For some, it was business as usual.  But most all agree that the red snapper season was a bit long.”

The article quoted one charter boat owner, Capt. Tyler Brielmeyer, who said that the red snapper fishing was “tough,” felt that the season should have ended on August 1 rather than on August 28, and opined that

“This long season is going to make next year even tougher,”

presumably because, at least in the waters off Destin, more red snapper were removed from the Gulf than the population can replace in time for next year’s season.

Another vessel owner, Capt. Alex Hare, was quoted as saying,

“The snapper fishing was by far the toughest snapper season I’ve ever fished.  They were tough from the get-go, and became almost non-existent at the end of the season…The numbers just weren’t there, and it was a little scary to see…I believe the long season, even though it is good for business, is not good for the fishery.  I hope they make a change.”

Another captain stated that

“We were able to find snappers throughout the season, but it wasn’t necessarily easy and for sure the overall size was smaller than I’d like,”

while a fourth charter boat operator, who had more than forty years’ experience in the fishery, commented that the 2024 red snapper season was

“the worst I have seen in a long time.”

Red snapper getting harder to find, the size of the fish declining, and fish quickly getting cleared off bottom structure, to the point that they were “almost non-existent at the end of the season”—none of those things are signs of a robust and sustainable fishery.

Unfortunately, fishery managers don’t currently have a good handle on the state of the Gulf’s red snapper population.  The most recent research track stock assessment, was completed within the last year, did not pass peer review.  Thus, fishery managers lack updated information needed to manage the stock.

In the face of such uncertainty, and in view of the warning signs being generated in some important recreational fisheries, it is worth asking whether state managers may have been given too much flexibility to set fishing seasons and other management measures, and whether it might be prudent to scale back seasons and fishing effort until such time as a new stock assessment can provide informed guidance on what a sustainable red snapper fishery would look like.

The red snapper stock was badly overfished not too long ago, but has since experienced a strong recovery.  It would be unfortunate to see that progress reversed, and the stock allowed to decline, because some in the recreational fishing community want to go too far, too fast, without first securing a solid scientific basis for the relaxed management measures that they so stridently seek.