# No snapper season again this year!!!



## Capt. Scott Griffin (May 22, 2016)

May 19, 2016    

NOAA Fisheries Announces Red Snapper Will Remain Closed in South Atlantic Federal Waters in 2016 

NOAA Fisheries announces red snapper will remain closed to commercial and recreational fishing in South Atlantic federal waters in 2016. Red snapper remains closed as the total number of red snapper removed from the population in 2015 exceeded the allowable catch level.

In 2013, the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council developed, and NOAA Fisheries implemented, a standardized process that specifies harvest may only occur in a given year if total removals (landings plus dead discards) in the previous year were less than the number allowed for population rebuilding. The total removals allowable for 2015 were 114,000 fish. After evaluating landings and discard information for 2015, NOAA Fisheries determined the estimates of total removals were 276,729 fish; therefore, the fishery remains closed in 2016.

NOAA Fisheries will utilize the same process identified by the South Atlantic Council to determine if the fishery can sustain a 2017 season.

For additional sources of information, including Frequently Asked Questions, details of the standardized process, and the report of 2015 estimates of red snapper total removals in the South Atlantic Region, please go here: 


Maybe someone can explain to me how 276,729 Red Snapper were "removed" from the stock in 2015 if there was not a Snapper season last year on the East Coast...what am I missing?.


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## fuelman1 (May 22, 2016)

I was thinking the exact same thing when I read that.


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## washercan4 (May 22, 2016)

You should check out the youtuber saltykayak. He fishes around Daytona Beach and all he can catch is HUGE red snapper. He's not very happy about no season this year either. It is kind of like black sea bass here. His latest video he drops a go pro down at the end and all you can see is red snapper. Looks like 100's of them.


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## JerseyJim (May 22, 2016)

*I don't understand how folks are not in an uproar*

Disclaimer: I am not a professional fisherman but I have read quite a lot on the subject of Red Snapper closings.
The folks at Florida Sportsman have done great reports on this over the years.

 There was/is a show on the History Channel called Big Fish Texas where TONS of Red Snapper are shown being caught and sold. The numbers kept are staggering.

 All within limits of course so legal by the books. So I am not knocking the fisherman. They have a quota and go for it.

But the regular Joe can't keep a Red Snapper?
It really is a travesty.
Jim


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## Heisenberg (May 22, 2016)

We all need to write our congressmen, state and federal.  With the way this sounds, we will never have a season because too many are removed the prior year, even without anyone keeping them. go figure.


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## oldenred (May 22, 2016)

Heisenberg said:


> We all need to write our congressmen, state and federal.  With the way this sounds, we will never have a season because too many are removed the prior year, even without anyone keeping them. go figure.



None of them care, that's a fact!


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## oops1 (May 22, 2016)

Fillet and release... Repeat. It's an absolute joke with no end in sight.


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## lowroller1 (May 22, 2016)

How is it that it's relatively easy to catch red snapper and yet their stocks are depleted? Snapper relate to structure, so -- why aren't they building more artificial reefs? More reefs/viable habitat = more fish, right? 

No snapper season? If they're not building the fishery, then why not, for example, let recreational fishermen have an open season and let the fishery determine if it's worth it to venture out to fish for them?


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## mdgreco191 (May 23, 2016)

JerseyJim said:


> Disclaimer: I am not a professional fisherman but I have read quite a lot on the subject of Red Snapper closings.
> The folks at Florida Sportsman have done great reports on this over the years.
> 
> There was/is a show on the History Channel called Big Fish Texas where TONS of Red Snapper are shown being caught and sold. The numbers kept are staggering.
> ...




The first time I saw that show I got genuinely ticked.  It is ridiculous at how many snapper they bring in and the average Joe is severely limited.  However, that is out of Texas in the Gulf not the Atlantic.  The Gulf apparently has way more ARS then the Atlantic according to the scientists.

In my experience lots of ARS (big ones too) get brought over the rail on every trip I take in New Smyrna Beach.  Commercial fishing is the problem, not the private fishermen.  Close commercial ARS fishing not private angling.


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## Heisenberg (May 23, 2016)

From what I understand. They are getting a mortality rate from some "SEDAR 24" model that says 41% of the released snapper will die.  

If 41% of them will die anyway, why can't we keep a reasonable number?!!

From their table 2 in the document, they say that recreational anglers (not charter, not headboat, not commercial) caught and released 470,487 in 2015!  How do they know this?.. I have no clue.  

There have been so many caught and released that 41% of the ones released equals 273,879 dead fish, to feed the crabs and sharks I guess.  

What is really sad...they admit they have no idea if their estimates are even valid.

From their own words...
"The uncertainty from all these data sources is considered to be quite high.  Confidence intervals are not reported here because of the difficulty in combining data sources from different estimation designs and not all sampling programs are able to report uncertainty estimates.  We simply note that the uncertainty is high, and likely higher than estimates typically seen for other snapper-grouper species.  What may be of more concern for these estimates is possible bias, which unfortunately is largely unknown"

Sounds like junk science to me.


http://sero.nmfs.noaa.gov/sustainable_fisheries/s_atl/sg/2016/red_snapper/documents/pdfs/red_snapper_total_removals_2015.pdf


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## whatknot (May 23, 2016)

Hard to comment without becoming a political rant.  The Feds are out of control.  They want to keep fishermen at home and teach them about climate change.


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## dawgwatch (May 24, 2016)

I know that most all of you on here are far more versed in this area than I am, but is there a realistic path for action on behalf of recreational anglers here in Georgia? Is there a chance of getting state waters moved out to 9-10 miles? While I know most snapper are father out than that, there is more issues than the snapper. I understand most lawmakers probably don't fish the coast because of where they live, what if some of the guides, which are the ones who suffer the most economically of us all, took as many as lawmakers as possible out fishing and we all pitched in and paid for and let them see what our guides see? Let them spend a day on the water talking with the real experts on whats happening? Just a thought. Any ideas?


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## creekrocket (May 24, 2016)

oops1 said:


> Fillet and release... Repeat. It's an absolute joke with no end in sight.


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## Steve762us (May 25, 2016)

Capt. Scott Griffin said:


> Maybe someone can explain to me how 276,729 Red Snapper were "removed" from the stock in 2015 if there was not a Snapper season last year on the East Coast...what am I missing?.



NOAA explains numbers here:

http://sero.nmfs.noaa.gov/sustainab...ents/pdfs/red_snapper_total_removals_2015.pdf

...don't  on me, just providing reference to their answer.  I don't have deep enough pockets to fish for Red Snapperz!


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## Mechanicaldawg (May 26, 2016)

http://www.joincca.org/articles/794


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## Mechanicaldawg (May 26, 2016)

Things stink in the Gulf too.

You need to contact your Congressman and push them to continue to press HR 3094.

Recreational fishermen along the Gulf of Mexico have been crowded into a very small corner when it comes to the red snapper fishery. NOAA has already awarded 70% of the commercial fishery to 55 individuals who do not even fish. These "Sea Lords" lease their rights to commercial fishermen for huge sums of money.

That in itself is mind-boggling but the next move was to implement "sector separation" via Amendment 40 which split the recreational fishery into two groups: Charter operators and private recreational fishermen. These two groups, who previously were the best of friends, are now at odds with one another and fighting for table scraps, with the big dog, the charter for hire group coming away with the lion's share of those scraps.

Charter operators have been awarded 46 days in which they may take customers out to catch red snapper while the private fishermen have been crowded into a 9 day season which spans only one weekend.

It gets worse. Sector separation was set up with a sunset provision that would end the practice of pitting fishermen against one another after 3 years. However, the charter operators are moving to have it extended indefinitely. This drives the private fisherman further into an ever shrinking corner. The charter operators are well organized, funded and focused, while the private fisherman is focused on his job and family and not nearly as in tune with this truly absurd process that is crowding them out of the fishery.

Why should we, as Georgians, be concerned about what is happening in the Gulf of Mexico? There are several reasons. First of all, many Georgians make the short trip to Gulf waters on a regular basis. Next, if this type of weed is allowed to foster in our neighbor's yard it is only a matter of time before the seeds blow across onto our turf. Thankfully, at the urging of members of CCA of Georgia's Government Relations Committee and others, several of Georgia's Congressmen have signed onto H. R. 3094 as sponsors. Rep. Buddy Carter, Rep. Austin Scott and Rep. Jody Hice all are onboard.


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## brailediver (May 28, 2016)

*Cca*

http://jacksonville.com/news/2015-0...eral-limits-red-snapper-designed-boost-stocks

"Trip Aukman, director of advocacy for the Coastal Conservation Association Florida, said the organization supports the current snapper management plan and believes the species still struggles, especially in the southern parts of Florida. “Their stock is doing horrible,” he said. “I see the federal government trying to help. They’re looking into a way to fix this problem and to not overfish this fishery.”


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## Mechanicaldawg (May 29, 2016)

CCA-Georgia and National seem to disagree with the opinion of Mr. Aukman as stated by that newspaper article.

http://www.joincca.org/articles/794


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## Dr. Strangelove (May 29, 2016)

I talked to a commercial fisherman one evening in a bar, in the course of the conversation, he supposed that they killed more juvenile fish in net hauling than every recreational fisherman on the coast in a year.

It's not recreational fisherman wiping anything out.


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## mdgreco191 (May 31, 2016)

Dr. Strangelove said:


> I talked to a commercial fisherman one evening in a bar, in the course of the conversation, he supposed that they killed more juvenile fish in net hauling than every recreational fisherman on the coast in a year.
> 
> It's not recreational fisherman wiping anything out.



THIS^^^^


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## PappyHoel (May 31, 2016)

Probably cause too many locals following the stock truck around.


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