AUSTIN, Texas — September 17, 2013 — The Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch program – the most well-known sustainable seafood program in the United States –announced this week that it has removed the Gulf of Mexico commercial red snapper fishery from its “Avoid” list and now classifies it as a “Good Alternative."
“The removal of red snapper from the “Avoid” list is an important step for red snapper fishermen in the Gulf,” said Tim Fitzgerald, Sustainable Seafood Director for Environmental Defense Fund’s Oceans Program. “In addition to drawing new consumers to try Gulf red snapper, this recognition will open the fishery to new markets and major buyers that have made a commitment to sustainable seafood.”
The announcement by Seafood Watch comes as a result of major management changes to the commercial red snapper fishery over the past seven years. Facing a dwindling stock after years of overfishing, a community of the Gulf’s small, family-owned commercial red snapper fishing operations, fishery managers, and conservationists worked together to design a new program for the fishery.