December 11, 2014 — Just as the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council has taken proactive steps to stabilize the Gulf's recreational red snapper fishery and end chronic recreational overages with accountability measures and sector separation, Congressman Jeff Miller of Florida has introduced the Gulf of Mexico Red Snapper Conservation Act of 2013, H.R. 3099.
The bill would shift red snapper management away from the National Marine Fishery Service and to the Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission and its member states, essentially undermining the mandates of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act that have rebuilt roughly 60 percent of the nation's overfished stocks since 2006.
Any legislation that removes fishery management for nationally economically important species like red snapper from the successes of the Magnuson-Stevens Acts to the Gulf States Commission and its state partners could destabilize the fishery and erode the progress made under a management system that has had many proven and measurable successes.
For certain, the road to Gulf recreational red snapper recovery, one we are still navigating by the way, has not been without its fair share of potholes and dangerous curves. We recreational anglers have witnessed our average size fish get bigger, while our seasons grow shorter and shorter as we reach our quota quicker.
But the other 800-pound gorilla in the room is the shortening of seasons due to the Gulf States extending state-water days longer than those of the federal season. The National Marine Fishery Service must shorten recreational fishing days in federal waters to account for the additional catch created by the longer, liberal state seasons. This dynamic has led to mistrust of the National Marine Fisheries Service's management system without considering the state's actions.
Read the full opinion piece at Al.com