Red Snapper limits to be reduced "Petition"

[damnitbadger]

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeacti ... 1162998671

The NMFS has posted the DEIS that will be used in finalizing the interim rule for red snapper for the 2007 fishing year. Bulleted below are their preferred alternatives in the DEIS. You can visit this web site and read the whole document http://sero.nmfs.noaa.gov click on Gulf of Mexico Red Snapper. Comments must be received by November 27, 2006.  

NMFS Preferred Alternatives
·         6 MP TAC (commercial 3.06 MP, recreational 2.94 MP)
·         2 fish recreational bag limit
·         Recreational 15 inch size limit
·         May 15-Sept.15 season (124 days)
·         No Captain and crew bag limit
·         Reduce commercial minimum size limit to 13 inches
·         Require the use of non-stainless steel circle hooks when using natural baits in the harvest of red  snapper from the EEZ, and require the use of venting tools and dehooking devices when harvesting red snapper from the EEZ
·         Establish a target reduction of shrimp trawl bycatch mortality on red snapper 50 percent less than the benchmark years of 2001-2003. However, they did not choose a preferred alternative to guarantee how they would assure the reduction.
·         Establish a framework procedure to adjust the effort target and closed season for the shrimp fishery in the Western Gulf

This absolutely cannot be acceptable to the recreational sector. We are losing two and one half months of our six month season and our bag limit is cut in half!

[John Jones]

Especially when commercial shrimping is responsible for the death of 80% of each years juvenile red snapper.

I signed last week.  I go to meetings and write letters.

I am amazed at the total conflict of interest allowed by members of the NMFS and the Gulf Council.

Red Snapper Conservation Stalled

HOUSTON, TX - Coastal Conservation Association today expressed its profound disappointment in the continuing reluctance of the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to address shrimp trawl bycatch as the primary cause for the decline of red snapper in the Gulf of Mexico.

That reluctance culminated at the most recent meeting of the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council with the Council electing to delay any action plan for the recovery of red snapper until January 2007. NMFS' refusal to support the inclusion of measures to reduce shrimp trawl bycatch as a part of a proposed red snapper recovery plan left the Council with no choice but to postpone any action.

"It is virtually impossible for the Council to set red snapper limits for recreational anglers when they don't know what the shrimp trawl bycatch reduction for juvenile red snapper is," said Fred Miller, chairman of CCA's National Government Relations Committee. "You have to deal with both sides of the equation at the same time."

Red snapper populations remain at a mere fraction of their natural levels as a result of shrimp trawl bycatch, which kills more than 80 percent of every year class of Gulf red snapper. That bycatch is the target of a lawsuit filed by Coastal Conservation Association against NMFS last year seeking to force significant regulations to recover red snapper stocks. For much of the troubled history of red snapper, the shrimp industry has avoided significant regulation relative to its impact on this important commercial and recreational fishery.

"Since this fishery was first identified as severely overfished in 1988, recreational red snapper anglers have seen their seasons shortened and bag limits tightened while the shrimp industry has largely been allowed to dodge their responsibility for this mess," said Miller. "Enough is enough."

CCA last year petitioned the U.S. Secretary of Commerce to put emergency measures into effect to end the excessive bycatch of red snapper by the Gulf of Mexico shrimp fleet. That petition was denied despite almost 8,000 supporting comments from CCA members and other conservationists around the Gulf Coast.

The current lawsuit filed by CCA seeks to achieve significant shrimp trawl bycatch reduction on the order of 60-80 percent through measures such as bycatch quotas, closed areas, seasonal closures and meaningful reduction in shrimping effort.

"NMFS' own studies show that shrimp trawl bycatch is far and away the single largest source of mortality for juvenile red snapper in the Gulf of Mexico and until that is properly addressed, this species will continue to be at risk," said David Cummins, CCA president.



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Coastal Conservation Association
6919 Portwest, Suite 100, Houston, TX 77024

http://www.ccaflorida.org/press_release ... _06_pr.htm


 :evil:  :evil:  :evil: Now I need a drink  

[JimCt]

The recreational fishing crowd needs to hire a few Top Guns (lobbyists) to compete with Big Shrimp in buying off the right politicians.  It's purely a political problem.  Don't mean to be cynical about this but money is the bottom line.

[John Jones]

In the case of commercial fishing, "perceived" money and maintaining their heritage is the problem.  I forget the actual numbers but offical government studies in Florida have determined that commercial fishing adds something like 1+ billion dollars to the state economy.  Recreational fishing is something along the lines of 8-10 billion dollars annually yet the recreational fisherman takes the hit in reduced bag limits and closures.  It's the same most anywhere.  I read enough to know that in your area of the country it's the same with striped bass and other species.  In VA it's flounder and the menhaden industry.  The commercials just have deeper pockets for the politicians.  Hopefully when the recreational fishermen have had enough they will form a SINGLE organization instead of hundreds of smaller outfits.  When we get the power of something like the NRA maybe the politicos will listen.  The two best organizations out there now are the Recreational Fishing Alliance and the Coastal Conservation Association.  I especially like the CCA because they not only fight for fishermen but boaters in general.

I'm done with the soap box, for now.  This stuff gets me just as fired up as gasoline prices and courts.