NOAA Fisheries recently released data on recreational red snapper landings for the 2014 season. Across the Gulf of Mexico, recreational fishermen landed 3,866,531 pounds of red snapper in 2014, 28 percent below the recreational quota of 5.39 million pounds. These data, mainly from NOAA Fisheries’ Marine Recreational Information Program (MRIP), were released months after the red snapper season closed. Because of NOAA Fisheries’ inability to monitor recreational landings in real-time during the season, recreational fishermen lost out on the opportunity to harvest more than 1.5 million pounds of red snapper last year. Inadequate data not only reduce anglers’ fishing opportunities but also economic opportunities for fishing communities through lost revenues at marinas, bait shops, and beyond.

These 2014 data further demonstrate that NOAA Fisheries continues to fail to adequately monitor the recreational red snapper fishery. In six of the past seven years between 2007 and 2013 (excluding 2010 when the fishery was closed due to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill) recreational harvests exceeded the quotas, sometimes by as much as 80 or 90 percent. MRIP simply was not designed to monitor quotas in season, which prohibits any kind of flexible, responsive management such as extending the season to allow fishermen the opportunity to harvest the full quota or closing the season to prevent overharvests. Responsible management of this fishery requires precise, real-time data.

The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) has proven in the last two years that we can provide the data needed to effectively manage this fishery, keeping harvests within limits and maximizing anglers’ time on the water. Through LA Creel, our new recreational data collection program, our biologists are on the dock every day, sampling catch and surveying anglers. Because of this intensive coverage, LA Creel provides more precise landings estimates and allows us to accurately count species such as red snapper as they are landed. Recreational landings estimates are available just two weeks after these data are collected. These near real-time data allow managers to flexibly and appropriately manage the fishing season—the Secretary of LDWF can adjust regulations within 72 hours if necessary. In 2014, for example, data from LA Creel enabled us to extend the state red snapper season by hundreds of days and still remain within our historic and projected share of the total Gulf recreational red snapper quota—good news for red snapper recovery, fishermen, and the businesses that depend on them.

Since Louisiana’s 2015 red snapper season opened in March, LDWF has continued to monitor the state’s recreational red snapper landings through LA Creel and is prepared to modify the season as needed to provide our anglers another successful year of red snapper fishing, conserve this valuable resource, and help keep our coastal communities thriving. LDWF is also currently working with NOAA Fisheries to recognize the validity of LA Creel and establish it as a replacement for MRIP. This process will pave the way for other Gulf states to adopt their own recreational data collection programs, improve data collection for this fishery, and hopefully bring the Gulf states one step closer toward regional, state-based management of the recreational red snapper fishery.

FISH ON!

 

fish, Fishing, Louisiana, NOAA, Red Snapper

By Sid

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