Red Snapper

The American Red Snapper is without a doubt the most common species encountered during bottom fishing trips by a large percentage in the “Nearshore” waters around Jacksonville. But with a strict 1 per person “mini-season” that lasted 24 hours in July of 2024 what gives?

When discussing this topic it’s first important to understand why we are in the situation we are in. The governing body for all fisheries outside of 3 miles in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina is the South Atlantic Management Fisheries council. The council is made up of 13 voting members, their backgrounds vary deeply. From scientists, commercial, charter and recreational fisherman. From the best ive been able to gather. A topic will be presented an advisory panel which is a group made up of people with some stake in the fishery, for example there is a “Headboat” panel, Snapper grouper panel, King and Spanish mackerel panel and more. These panels more or less give a collective opinion then the council makes the final motion based off a little bit of science and opinion. Sounds simple enough right?

But wait, there’s more. The governing law for fisheries management is known as the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. This outlines acceptable levels of catch, fisheries management to be “fair and equitable” as well requires councils to enact closures based on the “best available science”. This is a very simple summary and could likely be amended with lots of information to get the full picture. When determining if a species is allowed to be harvested the council looks at a number labeled “ACL” or Annual Catch Limit. This includes every fish caught. Released or Harvested.

The big topic of conversation when it comes to the Red Snapper is post release mortality and the percentage of 20+ year old Red Snapper. Studies show a 20 year old lays a huge amount of eggs in comparison to even a 19 year old fish. In the years 2015 and 2016 there was no allowable season because the post release mortality exceeded the ACL. When these Mini-Seasons are granted it’s because the councils numbers show the ACL wasn’t met and allows the anglers to make up the difference. According to the South Atlantic Management Fisheries Council it could be up to 25% of all snapper caught past that depth will experience fatal barotrauma. Barotrauma is tissue damage caused by pressure differences between the body's gas spaces and the surrounding environment. This can happen as shallow as 50 feet deep.

Largely the council in recent years has been quoting a largely unaccountable recreational fleet as the scape goat for the draconian closures. Commercial fisherman and very recently Headboats have been given the thumbs up as responsible and not part of the problem. They have gathered this data through mandatory trip reporting, landing reporting and official observers on board during trips.

A lawsuit was filed by a fish house in North Carolina by Avon Fisheries that has really shaken up recent events. A court ruled that because the Council had not taken sufficent steps to end overfishing the council would be over ruled by a NOAA committee directly.

This is scary and exciting at the same time for the recreational and for-hire anglers. There will be 8 options presented and debated on at the March 2025 meeting. A couple of these options show a lot of promise but in the same paragraph some potential options would greatly affect Florida fishing as it is. It seems as the the goal is to reduce fishing effort. Plainly put this means less trips taken into federally managed waters. One such option is to end bottom fishing from 3 miles out to 100’ of water, in our local fishery depending on where the line is drawn that would be in the neighborhood of 30 miles out. This would displace effort either inshore or out into the deep water. Area closures are a lose-lose situation usually and leads to a lot of dissatisfaction among anglers as well as puts more pressure into the open areas. In my opinion this sets us up for more area or species closures in the long run. With more anglers exploring our waters than ever it’s a very dangerous thought.

A recreational permit that will be applied to the vessel will likely be implemented sooner rather than later. The permits I have to report on and maintain as a charter captain are referred to as “For-hire” permits. These allow me to legally bring customers outside state waters which is 3 miles offshore and further. The down side to these permits right now is I have to report every time my boat leaves the dock, what is caught, price of fuel, area fished as well as having to carry a lot of extra gear on the boat like a turtle release kit. Not to bad right? Well a current topic is that they will require a trip to be declared ahead of time as well as ended at an approved landing site so biologists and law enforcement knows your location and timing. To me this seems like a blatant violation of our 4th amendment rights to not be put under unreasonable search and seizure.

The saving grace that potentially will be seen is the newest stock assessment labeled CEDAR 90. Hopefully this shows what’s actually going on with our Snapper fishery. That the stock is recovering way ahead of schedule and the ACL can be upped for all sectors. As well as the data from a group of special permits that the FWC applied for to help collect data.

This is where i’ll share some opinion on the overall state of the fishery now that the situation is outlined thoroughly above. Overall Red Snapper need to be an allowed harvest. This would greatly boost my yearly charter count but also satisfaction among clients. But I do believe the re-opening of these fish needs to be closely monitored. We have the perfect habitat for Red Snapper in our offshore waters. I would argue we hold the “biomass” for most of the state. If left unchecked a fleet of people who have been upset with hard regulation could put a hurting on these fish with relative quickness. Enacting a boat limit for recreational and 6 pack charter operations of 2 fish per boat with either no size limit or a minimum of 20” would be a sweet spot. No size limit would promote catching decent fish and not those old 20 year old fish quoted in the studies to maintain the population. I will end by encouraging everyone to get involved in fisheries meetings and leaving at the minimum online comments about the agendas that are posted. You can stay up to date on this website and signing up for their email list. https://safmc.net