BATON ROUGE, La. — February 11, 2013 — While the federal government reaffirmed its control of recreational red snapper management this past week, Louisiana fisheries officials also doubled down on a threat to claim three marine leagues of ocean on behalf of the state in an effort to wrestle away oversight of the species from the Gulf of Mexico Fisheries Management Council.
The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries asked the Gulf Council’s Reef Fish Committee Thursday to advance a plan creating regional management for the Bayou State, but the motion was rejected.
Support only came from Texas representatives, where officials took a similar stance and are managing their own recreational red snapper seasons.
State Wildlife and Fisheries Secretary Robert Barham said the Gulf Council “refuses to work with Louisiana,” and within the next month his staff plans to “move forward with state regulations that will directly contradict those of our federal counterparts.”
He added his office would “remain open” to further discussion with any and all interested parties.
“We have said time and again that there is no ‘one size fits all’ approach that will work for the entire Gulf Coast when it comes to recreational fishing, which is why we proposed state-by-state or regional management,” Barham said. “The approach of the Gulf Council is outdated and stagnant.”