Why It Matters: July 12th marked the beginning, and the end, of the 2024 South Atlantic red snapper season. Unfortunately, we are stuck under a federal management paradigm in the South Atlantic that rewards a rapidly rebuilding red snapper population with fewer red snapper fishing opportunities, with the season totaling one day this year. Sound familiar? A decade ago, we were facing a similar situation in the Gulf of Mexico red snapper fishery until it reached a critical melting point of frustrated anglers, frustrated states, and frustrated policy makers that, fortunately, led to a highly successful transition to state management. There are signs we may very well be at or near a similar melting point for change in the South Atlantic.
Highlights:
- The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) announced in early June that the 2024 red snapper season in the South Atlantic will span a total of – one day.
- Since the one-day red snapper season announcement, many anglers, recreational fishing organizations and Members of Congress have voiced their frustration with NMFS’s decision, despite the most abundant population of red snapper in recorded history.
- The Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation (CSF) firmly believes the best opportunity for better red snapper management in the South Atlantic resides with the states, not NMFS.
On July 11, the day prior to the entire recreational red snapper season in the South Atlantic, Congressional Sportsmen’s Caucus Member Congressman Russell Fry and eighteen of his Congressional colleagues sent a letter to the head of NOAA expressing their frustration with the one day season red snapper season in 2024. As CSF has reported previously, much of the reason why we have such short seasons in the South Atlantic is due to the federal survey that poorly estimates angler catch and effort.
Despite the highest red snapper population abundance ever recorded, the 2024 season in the South Atlantic was measured in mere hours. Whereas, in the Gulf of Mexico, the 2024 red snapper season will be measured in months for each of the states. The underlying reason for the highly disparate season structures rests with the recreational landings data between the two regions. Recreational anglers in the Gulf were facing a similar melting point not too long ago, so each state took charge and began developing their own recreational data collection program to supplement or replace MRIP, which was never intended for in-season management. The experiment turned out to be very successful.
In the Gulf, if the weather is bad and the seas are high in the state where you fish, you can simply wait for a better day to go fishing. Unfortunately, that is not the case in the South Atlantic. Last Thursday, South Carolina Legislative Sportsmen’s Caucus Member Representative Lee Hewitt sent a letter to NOAA’s Southeast Regional Administrator urging them to delay the one-day season until later in the summer. Representative Hewitt cited a NOAA-issued small craft advisory for the southern coast of North Carolina, and the NOAA forecast of seas of 6-10 feet for the northern coast of South Carolina. Unfortunately for anglers in those areas, the season was not postponed, and they simply missed out on the 2024 red snapper season.
While CSF will continue to push for better data collection programs at the state level to get out of this increasingly shrinking federal fisheries management box in the South Atlantic, we are also highly supportive of a new effort by the state of Florida to explore innovative management approaches. Through a series of approved exempted fishing permits, a few lucky anglers will have the opportunity to harvest red snapper outside of the one-day season while providing important data to improve management in the future. Visit FWC’s Atlantic Red Snapper Exempted Fishing Permit (EFP) Project to learn more and apply today.
