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[size=12pt]Some want states to regulate red snapper instead of federal government[/size]
Published: Sunday, June 03, 2012, 6:57 AM
By Ben Raines, Press-Register
For a growing group of scientists, regulators and fishermen, the red snapper has come to symbolize all that is wrong with the way the federal government manages the nation’s fisheries.
The time has come, they say, to take control of the snapper harvest away from the feds and give it back to the states.
At the center of the debate is this simple fact: Though snapper populations are the healthiest they’ve been for decades, the National Marine Fisheries Service set the shortest season in the history of the Gulf of Mexico, just 40 days long.
Now, three days into the 40-day season, Bob Shipp, a longtime member of the federal commission that sets the snapper rules, says the system is broken.
Shipp -- who is also head of marine sciences at the University of South Alabama -- said the problem lies in the Magnuson–Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. That act mandates that the federal government end overfishing of ocean fish species as quickly as possible.
The act is up for reauthorization this year. It would take an act of Congress to enact Shipp’s plan and remove red snapper and other species from federal oversight.
NMFS officially declined to comment on this issue, saying any comments would be speculative.
One of Shipp’s key criticisms is that the act forces the National Marine Fisheries Service to set harvest limits and open seasons for the entire Gulf of Mexico, never mind that fish populations off the five Gulf states vary dramatically.
For instance, Alabama has created a network of about 20,000 artificial reefs within about 40 miles of the beach, said Maj. Chris Blankenship, head of the Alabama Division of Marine Resources. Together, those reefs are home to tens of millions of pounds of red snapper, Blankenship said.
Though most of those fish are not included in the stock assessments federal officials do when calculating the Gulf’s snapper population, Blankenship said the Alabama reefs are responsible for 35 percent to 40 percent of the annual snapper harvest Gulfwide.
"We’ve worked hard to create the reef system and create the fishery here. For it to only be utilized 40 days a year, something needs to be changed," Blankenship said. "We would rather see the fisheries service increase the stock assessment and annual quota where we can have a couple hundred days of snapper fishing. But at the rate they are going, we’ll never get there."
At a recent meeting of the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council, officials with NMFS said the annual snapper season would not be appreciably longer than 40 days for many years to come.
In response, officials in Louisiana and Florida have discussed breaking away from the federal system and allowing anglers in those states to fish for snapper in state waters even when the federal season is closed. Such a move could mean federal officials would further limit snapper fishing in the rest of the Gulf.
Meanwhile, recreational anglers fishing off Alabama are typically able to catch a limit of red snapper within a few minutes around the artificial reefs any day of the year. A commonly heard complaint is that there are now so many snapper off Alabama that it is difficult to catch anything else.
"Man, that would be outstanding," said veteran offshore tournament angler Marcus Kennedy when told of Shipp’s plan. "Honestly, I think the National Marine Fisheries Service is overwhelmed by their regulatory responsibilities. They regulate everything in the Gulf of Mexico, from sponges to bluefin tuna. With the things that are important to our state, like snapper, grouper and amberjack, their regulation has been horrible."
Shipp said he believes Alabama’s reef zone can easily support a six-month-long snapper season with anglers allowed to keep two fish per day. Florida and Texas, he said, probably couldn’t. But, Florida could support a much larger grouper harvest than any other state.
"The states need different management. Alabama, we need to tighten up on grouper. We don’t have many gags. We don’t have many reds," he said, referring to different grouper species managed by the NMFS. "Right now, you can keep four red grouper a day. That’s probably too many for the waters off Alabama. But for Florida, that’s fine." A one-size-fits-all approach for the different habitats off each Gulf state just doesn’t work, Shipp said.
"Look at spotted sea trout. Louisiana has a 25-fish-per-day bag limit on speckled trout, and they have no problem with their stock. Meanwhile, Alabama has a 10-fish-per-day limit, and Florida has just a four-fish bag limit. The different regions of the Gulf have different fish stocks. We need to manage accordingly. The states are already doing that with the stocks under their control."
Under Shipp’s proposal, the states would manage fish that spend their entire lives in one area, such as amberjack, and the various snapper and grouper species. The federal government would control the fish that migrate around the Gulf, including tuna, wahoo, cobia, sharks, mahi-mahi and mackerel.
"NMFS does a good job with those highly migratory species. They have a harder time with the reef fish," Shipp said.
Chris Dorsett, with the Ocean Conservancy, said the proposal raises a lot of management questions.
"We all see the Magnuson Act is working to rebuild overfished populations. You are seeing more and bigger fish," Dorsett said. "I understand the frustration, but how would this system work? Who would measure the fish stocks? Who would set the targets for the size of the population? Who would set limits?"
Shipp agreed those are challenges, but said each state already has a robust team studying the various fish stocks in state waters.
"We already do the same types of surveys NMFS does," Blankenship said, referring to Alabama’s marine resources division. "There are enforcement issues, and management questions, but we’re just in the infancy of what Dr. Shipp is proposing. I think what it really shows is the unhappiness within all the states regarding the management of red snapper. People are trying to find a solution."
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