New rules announced: Red snapper season longer this year

For the first time since red snapper fishing regulations began, the annual quota of fish will be split between recreational anglers fishing from private boats and those fishing from for-hire or charter boats. The lengths of the seasons, which both begin June 1, also will differ, according to information from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries Southeast Regional Office in Florida.
The new rules grant private anglers 10 days (one more than last year) and for-hire boats 40 days to catch red snapper in federal waters.. 
While the new regulations allow for a longer season than the ultra-short nine days for everyone set up in 2014, they don’t sit well with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.
“We don’t support sector separation,” said Art Morris, a fishery outreach specialist with TPWD’s Coastal Fisheries Division in Corpus Christi. 
“Sector separation” is the term used for Reef Fish Amendment 40, which has been approved by NOAA and to be announced May 1. 
“It’s still a private citizen who hires someone to take him out there,” Morris said. “From a recreational standpoint, he’s still a recreational angler. It doesn’t matter how he got out there.”
The proposed quota allots 42.3 percent of the annual catch to fishermen on for-hire boats and 57.7 percent to anglers who found their way out to sea on their own or in a friend’s boat. This year, anglers will split 5.4 million pounds of red snapper this way: 2,279,900 pounds for charter boats and 3,110,030 pounds for private boats.
Federal bag limits will remain two per day with a minimum size of 16 inches. States set their own bag limits. In Texas, the limit is four per day with a minimum size of 15 inches.
The length of the two seasons was determined using the numbers from red snapper catches in 2014. In fact, the justification for the two different season lengths is all about the math, not the definition of a recreational angler, said Andy Strelcheck, deputy director of NOAA Fisheries Southeast Regional Office.
“The catch rates, the amount of harvest that private anglers have on a daily basis is considerably higher than on for-hire vessels,” he said. “They land more quota more quickly because of that higher catch rate.” 
Therefore, the season will be shorter for private boats than the charters because the closing date is based on how quickly estimates show the established quota will be hauled in.
“The math is fairly straightforward,” Strelcheck said. “We collect data to see how much each sector is landing. The difference is in the rate they catch their quota.” 
Also, federally permitted charter boats are prohibited from fishing in state waters when the season is over. Recreational anglers on private boats can fish state waters year-round.
According to Strelcheck, many for-hire captains support Amendment 40 because of the longer season for them. They get 40 days this year, while private anglers will get from 10. 

FISHING FOR FACTS

While the states along the Gulf Coast can set their own guidelines for each jurisdiction, once fishermen throw their lines into waters nine miles offshore, they are bound by federal regulations. 
Amendment 40 is part of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Reauthorization Act of 2006. It was established to help replenish a marine life population devastated by overfishing in the 1980s and will only last three years beginning in 2015. 
During those three years, the Gulf states will be working on setting up regional management, which will allow states to regulate red snapper fishing from the shoreline to 200 miles out. TPWD whole-heartedly supports that move, Morris said.
“It gives us better control on when we can go,” Morris said. “Right now, it starts June 1 no matter what and runs for however many days the feds say. If we get control, we can adjust the date and spread it out to suit our anglers’ needs.” 
For example, TPWD could have a winter fishing season along with a summer season. 
“At one time, red snapper was a winter fishery,” Morris continued. “Now, it’s strictly summer because that’s when kids get out of school and people take vacations.” 
Federally mandated quotas still would limit the fishing, however. Once the federal quota was landed, no more fishing would be allowed until the end of the year. 
To be named the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council, this regional management team would be made up of representatives from each of the member states, including a mix of biologists, political appointees and anglers. 
While Magnuson-Stevens has added a bit of confusion and complication to the simple act of casting a line into the water and hoping for a bite, it seems to be working, Morris said. 
“There’s certainly more snapper in the Gulf now than there has been in a long time, and they’re bigger,” he said. “Is it the only way to manage a fishery? No, probably not. But it’s what we have to work with. It’s sound fishery management. It’s just controversial in how it occurs.”