The Government "Regulations"

Okay so I've heard a lot about the government and NOAA and the snapper season, and now ive heard they're aiming for redfish? That I'm guessing like the snapper season will be pointless. As fisherman we are the ones who have a better view on catches and what we get because we are the ones who see firsthand every decline and every rise in fish population and could be much more accurate than a boat that goes out once for a study on what could just be a bad week for the fish at that particular spot. It seems to me like if the government keeps on this same course they will be responsible for the collapse of ecosystems like if the snapper choke all the other fish out because they are protected. Not only that but the commercial industry will be hurt because of the short season and low fish populations of other species. I didnt mean to right this much ( i think my english class is gonna give me nightmares) but I want someone to take action and everyone to know about this so we can keep doing what we love

We need to understand that the people that run NOAA, and many parts of the Federal Government, don't care one bit about recreational fishing. In fact, many see it as simply torture of dumb animals for our enjoyment and would like to see it stopped.
They see commercial fishing, on the other hand, "as feeding the masses" as well as living for the poor under class. So, IMHO, we are not going to see fisheries management that provides us with relief unless the nature of NOAA changes.

[QUOTE=Mobilebayfisher;90409]/QUOTE]

I feel I need to correct you a little on this idea. I have seen it expressed multiple times that people feel the current fisheries situation is the result of a liberal agenda, or a Washington DC plot. Unfortunately it is not so simple. There are plenty of republicans involved here, even local ones. Look even to the Alabama House of Representatives, where David Sessions, who represents southern Mobile county, keeps pushing to loosen regulations on gill netters.

The NOAA snapper issue is not so much red/blue as green. Many gulf council members are benefiting financially from their votes either by owning stock shares or by working for commercial fishing lobbying groups. This move is not about "protecting snapper" or reducing animal cruelty, either. Nothing that is happening has reduced the access of the commercial sector. In fact, gulf red snapper has been taken off of the Monterey Bay Aquarium's fish to avoid list. We are being told over and over that it is fine to harvest red snapper... unless you are a recreational fisherman. Furthermore, the concept of catch shares -- taking a public resource and selling it to the private sector -- comes more from the right than the left.

As far as feeding the masses and employment for the poor, red snapper are not significant to either cause. Ever seen the price of red snapper in a fish market? And the people who own the snapper shares and not so much your small time commercial fishers anymore, but rather a centralized group. Less than 400 entities own the entire commercial stock, about half the snapper in the gulf!

So in the end don't feel like checking the box next to an R name vs a D name is helping the fight against NOAA. Honestly the best things we can do as fishermen is stay educated and educate others. Support groups such as CCA. Try to hold our local officials accountable. While these strategies may not be perfect, we don't have much alternative. The harder pill to swallow is not spending our money at restaurants which buy snapper and even boycotting certain marinas or charterboats which are taking quota from the private rec sector. Sounds terrible, but if we keep paying for people to do this to us, they will keep on doing so.

As much as everyone loves to blame NOAA, you have to remember they are tasked with implementing the Magnusson Stephens Act as written by the US Congress. A very well intentioned law, written when fish stocks were either collapsing or on the verge of collapsing all around the country.
Problem is, the law is inflexible, requires NOAA to take draconian measures to meet strict goals. Requires NOAA to manage fish using weight-based quotas (which don't work for recreational fisheries) and one-size-fits-all solutions. Then Congress says "Oh yeah, and do this on a shoe string budget". Throw in some inflexible methodologies and good mix of user-group conflict, differing state/federal waters boundaries, an artificial reef program that is amazingly successful and you get the mess we have with red snapper. And don't forget that if NOAA does not follow the Act to the letter, some bunch of bunny-huggers sue the crap out of them.

But it could be worse. We could be New England and be dealing with a cod fishery that may NEVER recover from its collapse back in the he early 90's. It been heavily reduced or closed since around 1995 and still hasn't recovered. Or we could be on the west coast where the main bottom fishery is rockfish, which are slow to reproduce and it takes decades to see significant recovery.

Back when I started bottom fishing in 1995, it was tough to catch a 16" snapper on a public reef or hard bottom after about June 1st. Now, its impossible not to catch 8-10# snapper every drop on any structure. Even the evil scientist at NOAA has now admitted there appears to be are more ARS in the Gulf than in any time in history. Relief is coming, should have already happened, but the ball is now really rolling. Our reps up in DC are listening to the Gulf state Marine Resources managers and I think we will see a big change soon. Not saying we will go back to year round season with 4 fish /day. But I think once the federal legislation gets passed moving ARS management to the 5 states, we will see a stable set of bag limit & season dates for an extended period of time.

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Originally Posted by CarlF

a stable set of bag limit & season dates for an extended period of time.

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I agree with your post. The gulf coast states have for the most part come around. Hopefully this will lead to well-managed state-run fisheries in the not too distant future.

New legislation gets mixed reviews from fishermen. - WXXV25

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Originally Posted by FinChaser

New legislation gets mixed reviews from fishermen. - WXXV25

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Kinda spells it all out ...

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"Charter boats on the Gulf Coast have been trying to get sector separation for a while. It isn't an overnight process. It's been a process that's been going on for a few years – trying to get it to help our business," says Jay Trochesset, owner of the Silver Dollar III charter boat.
But, private anglers are feeling short-changed with their increasingly shorter seasons. The season is projected to be seven to eleven days this year.

John Rey, a private angler, explains, "Say if we've only got a two week season and seven of those ten days or seven of those fourteen days of rough water, we're not able to get out there."

But, charter fishermen say it is a fair deal. "I think it kind of gets us on an equal playing field. Before, we were kind of limited, and that's what we do for a living. They could fish as long as we could in federal waters, and they could fish in state waters and we couldn't."

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We (recreational anglers) are now divided.
Those with the means, and those without who fish at the mercy and convenience of professional fishermen and bureaucrats.

BTW, dates for Alabama's state 2015 ARS season have yet to be declared.

I could be wrong, but I thought I just read that Florida has approved a 70 day Red Snapper season for this year in state waters. Is that correct, or is it just my imagination. If it is correct why would Alabama not do the same?

Florida has just approved a 70 day season AND it is configured to make the recreational fisherman happy with weekend openings thru the fall. hooray FOR THE FWC. Let's hope for some Alabama common sense.

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Originally Posted by Big Dawg

I could be wrong, but I thought I just read that Florida has approved a 70 day Red Snapper season for this year in state waters. Is that correct, or is it just my imagination. If it is correct why would Alabama not do the same?

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Alabama will probably do something similar. However, Alabama only has jurisdiction over waters out to 3 miles, Florida has 9 miles. Snapper opportunities within 3 miles are pretty limited. AL claimed out to 9 miles last year, but congress has not recognized the extension. That means you can still get a ticket from the feds in the 3-9 miles zone for now. Louisiana is in the same situation.