The Gulf Fishermen’s Association represents several hundred commercial fishermen in the Gulf of Mexico and more than half of the red snapper and grouper industry. We are dedicated to providing fresh domestic seafood to America’s citizens year-round in a sustainable fishery.
We can tell America first-hand how fishing jobs were prior to implementation of our catch share programs. Our industry was eating itself alive.
The more we competed, the shorter our seasons became and the longer we had to run to catch fish. The science was right, fish stocks were declining. Shorter seasons caused greater waste, gluts of older product, lower prices, and less income.
As income dropped we fished with dilapidated boats in worse weather with less qualified crews for fewer fish. Things got so bad that a plan was developed that would eliminate more than a third of the boats in the fishery. Cheap fish worked great for the big fish houses and the Mexican fishermen who sold to them during our closures, but not so well for American fishermen.
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