FishWatch

Harvesting Red Snapper

Commercial fishermen mainly use hook and line gear (handlines and electric reels) to harvest red snapper. They attach multiple hooks to a vertical line and weight it at the bottom. They also sometimes use longlines and spears.

In the Gulf of Mexico, hook and line fishermen are required to use circle hooks and dehooking devices to improve the chance of survival of any unintentionally caught fish. They’re also required to use venting tools when necessary. (When reef fish are brought quickly to the surface by hook and line, the gas in their swimbladder can overexpand. Venting tools help deflate the abdominal cavity, preventing serious injury to the fish. This also helps the fish descend after being released.) Management also prohibits fishing in certain areas of the Gulf to protect sensitive fish populations and habitats.

Also in the Gulf of Mexico, longlines used to harvest reef fish can also unintentionally catch loggerhead sea turtles. Several measures are in place to reduce this bycatch in the Gulf of Mexico reef fish fishery, including certain times or areas where fishermen cannot fish, gear restrictions and handling requirements, and a limit on the number of vessels that can participate in the fishery.

Harvest and possession of red snapper is currently prohibited in the South Atlantic.

Management

Who’s in charge? NOAA Fisheries and the South Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Councils

Current management:
South Atlantic: Snapper Grouper Fishery Management Plan

• In 2010, management prohibited harvest of red snapper in the South Atlantic to protect the population from too much fishing pressure and to allow the number of fish to increase. In September 2012, managers will temporarily re-open the fishery after new scientific information projected the population will continue to improve, even with some allowable catch. Opening this fishery supports recreational and commercial fishing jobs and businesses. Managers are also working on a long-term plan to allow for some catches of red snapper as the population continues to grow. Data collected during the openings for red snapper fishing will also be used in the next population assessment, scheduled to begin in 2014.

Gulf of Mexico: Reef Fish Fishery Management Plan

• Rebuilding plan implemented in 2005 with goal of rebuilding Gulf red snapper stock by 2032.
• Managers set a total allowable catch for the fishery, allocating 51 percent of it to commercial fishermen and the remaining 49 percent to recreational fishermen.
• Fishermen must have a commercial permit to participate in the commercial fishery.
• Individual fishing quota program, which allocates the commercial catch among individual fishermen and corporations. Fishermen may harvest their quotas whenever they choose to do so and must report how much they harvest.
• Minimum size limit to reduce fishing pressure and protect the spawning stock and juveniles.
• Restrictions on the type of gear fishermen may use and where they can fish to reduce bycatch.
• Young snapper are taken as bycatch by shrimp trawlers in the Gulf of Mexico. To reduce this bycatch, fishery managers require fish bycatch reduction devices (BRDs) in shrimp trawls. BRDs are designed to allow fish to exit the net while shrimp are retained. If this bycatch isn’t reduced enough, managers will prohibit shrimp trawling in certain seasons or areas to meet bycatch reduction goals.
• Areas closed to fishing to protect sensitive fish populations and habitats. Vessels with commercial reef fish permits must have a working satellite-based vessel monitoring system, (VMS) to enforce these closures.

State management measures are fairly consistent with federal measures noted above. Some states, such as South Carolina, automatically adopt federal regulations; others have separate regulations.

Annual Harvest

In the Gulf of Mexico, commercial fishermen harvested over 3.2 million pounds of red snapper in 2011. Recreational fishermen landed over 4.3 million pounds in 2011.

Economy

In 2010, the ex-vessel value of the red snapper fishery was $10.2 million. The average ex-vessel price per pound was $3.36 in 2010. (Ex-vessel refers to the price fishermen receive for their catch.)

Data on imports and exports do not differentiate between species of snapper and grouper. In general, imported snappers and groupers are dominant in the U.S. market, with imports far exceeding the amount supplied by U.S. commercial fisheries.

Recreational

Red snapper are a favorite target for sport fishermen. In the Gulf of Mexico, managers allot 49% of the total allowable catch to the recreational fishery. Red snapper must be a certain size to be caught, and there is a limit on how many red snapper anglers can catch per day. The recreational fishing season is from June 1 to September 30 (but this varies year to year as it is subject to early closure if harvest projections indicate the season should be shorter). Charter vessels must have a permit. In the South Atlantic, red snapper typically must be a certain size to be caught, and there is a limit on how many red snapper anglers can catch per day. However, all harvest, including that by recreational fishermen, has been prohibited in the South Atlantic since 2010. In September 2012, the recreational red snapper fishery in the South Atlantic will be temporarily reopened. The recreational season will open for two consecutive weekends of Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, from September 14 through 16 and 21 through 23. During the recreational season, fishermen may keep one fish per person per day with no size limit. The 2012 recreational catch limit is 9,399 fish.