South Atlantic Fishery Management Council Round-Up

Council rejects adding snapper grouper bottom fishing closures to Regulatory Amendment 35.

During the week of September 12, the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council) met and discussed many important issues. However, not surprisingly, the topic on the agenda for many in the recreational industry was red snapper and the possibility of snapper grouper bottom fishing closures.

First, here’s a brief primer on the current state of South Atlantic red snapper:

South Atlantic Red Snapper Are Abundant, But Restrictions Remain

The South Atlantic red snapper population has rebounded so much that both scientists and fishermen agree the stock is more abundant today than any living person has ever seen.  Recruitment of young fish into the population has also been consistently high for the past several years.  Despite this success, the latest stock assessment for Atlantic red snapper indicates that the fishery is undergoing overfishing and is overfished.  Much to the frustration of many anglers, the Atlantic red snapper recreational fishery has been largely closed for the past 12 years, except for a few weekend openings. So how can Atlantic red snapper be classified as overfished and undergoing overfishing when the fishery is so limited?

Although red snapper are abundant, most fish in the Atlantic stock are only a few years old. Red snapper can live for 50 years, and it is believed that more older fish are needed in the population for a sustainable fishery.  Due to the time needed for young fish to age, the Council has a rebuilding plan in place that ends in 2044 to address the overfished status.  According to the stock assessment, high numbers of recreational discards are the culprit for overfishing.  Anglers are catching more red snapper and are forced to release them when they are fishing for other species and red snapper harvest is closed.  This year, recreational red snapper harvest was allowed for just two days in July.

Over the past few meetings, the Council has been grappling with how to best address this quagmire.  No one likes the limited seasons, and just about everyone was surprised and disappointed to learn that despite the obvious progress in rebuilding the fishery, the stock assessment still indicates that the population is in trouble.  Despite questions about the stock assessment and the reliability of the discard estimates driving the apparent overfishing, NOAA has informed the Council that overfishing is occurring and they are required to act.

As Council Considers Ways to Reduce Release Mortality, Bottom Fishing Closures Proposed

In March, the Council passed a motion to begin work to end overfishing through an amendment to reduce red snapper harvest limits.  Recognizing that there are several snapper grouper species that are experiencing overfishing and/or overfished, the Council also discussed options for a separate amendment intended to reduce release mortality for all 55 species of snapper grouper, including red snapper.  When the Council’s Snapper Grouper Advisory Panel, which is composed of recreational and commercial fishermen from North Carolina through the Florida Keys, was asked to review these options and provide suggestions to further reduce red snapper interactions, the panel’s consensus was that they feel that red snapper are recovered and that they were “asked for suggestions to solve a problem that no longer exists.”

At the Council’s June meeting, NOAA Fisheries strongly advocated for considering time/area bottom fishing closures for snapper grouper in the “short term” to end overfishing of red snapper. The NOAA Fisheries Southeast Regional Administrator noted that discard mortality needed to be reduced by 65% to end overfishing and that bottom fishing closures should be considered as a way “to keep people off the fish.” Despite some Council members strongly opposing this approach, the Council left the June meeting giving staff direction to develop Regulatory Amendment 35 to address red snapper and to include analyses to inform discussion and consideration of time/area bottom fishing closures of the snapper grouper fishery at the September Council Meeting.  They specifically discussed options such as depth limits, seasonal closures, and/or area closures of snapper grouper fishing in federal waters.

Large area and/or seasonal closures to all bottom fishing would be devastating to the recreational fishing industry and South Atlantic offshore anglers.  With so much on the line, the Council talk about potential bottom fishing closures got people’s attention.  In August, Representatives John Rutherford (R-FL), Stephanie Murphy (D-FL) and 28 other members of Congress wrote a letter to NOAA Administrator Richard Spinrad urging both the agency and the Council to hold off considering area closures and other significant measures until the South Atlantic Great Red Snapper Count and other data that will improve our understanding of the Atlantic red snapper stock are incorporated into the next red snapper assessment, which is slated to begin in 2024.  The letter stated, “To make a decision with such sweeping consequences when we have better data from the Great Red Snapper Count and state surveys on the way would be irresponsible.”  ASA supports and has advocated for this commonsense, science-informed approach.  Considering that Congress has appropriated $5.1 million for this study, which is already underway and will improve our scientific understanding of Atlantic red snapper, it makes sense to wait to have results in hand before making a management decision that would drastically disrupt fishing for not only red snapper, but all 55 species in the snapper grouper complex.

Recreational Fishing Community Successfully Speaks Against Bottom Fishing Closures

Given the severe impacts that bottom fishing closures of any kind could have on recreational fishing in the South Atlantic, ASA and several of our partners reached out to members and others in the recreational fishing community asking them to provide comments to the Council for consideration at their September meeting.  In total, the Council received more than 1,000 public comments over 3 weeks – nearly all of which were related to red snapper and in opposition to snapper grouper bottom fishing closures. Among the comments were a follow-up letter from Congressman Rutherford and Congresswoman Murphy; a letter from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission; and members of the South Carolina Senate Fish, Game, and Forestry Committee. About 60 industry leaders, boat builders, anglers, and for-hire captains spoke against bottom fishing closures during the September meeting’s public testimony session. Congressman Rutherford also called in to express to the Council how important snapper grouper fishing is to northeast Florida.

The Council heard the strong opposition to bottom fishing closures across the fishing community.  They spent several hours discussing analyses of discards, their views on bottom fishing closures, and where to go from here with red snapper.  Council members generally agreed that reducing discard mortality is a priority and the Council needs to find ways to increase harvest opportunities in the red snapper fishery.  The Council also discussed the critical role of education and outreach of best fishing practices for snapper grouper, including descending devices.

Ultimately, the Council decided to move Regulatory Amendment 35 forward in the short term to end the overfishing of red snapper without bottom fishing closures.  Alternatively, Regulatory Amendment 35 will include options to reduce red snapper annual catch limits, potential gear modifications (specifically, prohibition on the use of electric reels and use of more than one hook per line for the snapper grouper recreational sector), and best fishing practices education and outreach strategies.  Acknowledging the great uncertainty in data on recreational discards, the Council also requested additional information for their December meeting on how assuming reduced discards and discard mortality estimates in the red snapper stock assessment affects stock status and management benchmarks.

So, What’s Next? 

Once Amendment 35 is finalized in March 2023, the Council will consider additional long-term options to further avoid/minimize discards of snapper grouper, “to achieve stock rebuilding goals, reduce waste, protect marine ecosystems, increase socio-economic benefits, enhance angler opportunities, and/or promote more effective utilization of the resource (e.g., shift dead discards to landed catch).”  States may also apply for exempted fishing permits (EFPs) to try new management strategies for Atlantic red snapper, perhaps similar to those used to test state management of Gulf red snapper several years ago.  The State of Florida indicated that they are developing an EFP proposal with the goal of obtaining better red snapper discard data, increase harvest opportunities, and modify angler behavior to help increase the survival of released reef fish.

Editor’s Note: The Council meets next December 5-9 in Wrightsville Beach, NC.  For more information about the South Atlantic Council, contact Martha Guyas at mguyas@asafishing.org or visit the Council’s website.