Thursday, January 3, 2013

Red Snapper: Special Meeting of the Reef Fish Committee

Photo: Mike Jennings

The Gulf Council’s Reef Fish Management Committee is holding a special meeting next week to address a number of different red snapper issues:

  • Quotas and bag limit- The committee will discuss a framework action that will set the 2013 commercial and recreational quotas, and considers reducing the bag limit for recreational red snapper fishing as a way to increase the number of fishing days.
  • Allocation- The committee will work on a scoping document that considers the division of the red snapper annual catch limit between commercial and recreational fishing sectors. Currently, 49% of red snapper is allocated to the recreational sector and 51% is allocated to commercial fishing. 
  • 5-Year Individual Fishing Quota (IFQ) Program Review- The reef fish Committee will review a draft of the 5-year review of the Individual Fishing Quota program. The document contains analysis of the social, economic, and biological impacts that the program has had on the fishery, and recommendations for changes to the program that have been made by a variety of different advisory groups.
  • Regional Management- The committee will review a scoping document that considers managing red snapper in separate regions. Committee will also discuss the outcomes of a meeting held for the directors of the fish and wildlife departments from each Gulf state to discuss the idea of regional management.
Photo: Mark Miller
This meeting will be held from 1:30-5:00 pm on Monday, January 7th and from 8:30 am – 5:00 pm on Tuesday, January 8th.  The meeting agenda can be found here.

This meeting is open to the public. You are welcome to join us in person at the Airport Hilton in Tampa, Florida or you can join the webinar to listen in from the comforts of home. 

As always, if you have any questions don’t hesitate to contact us.