JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – U.S. Congressman John H. Rutherford, along with 22 fellow members of the House, sent a letter to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Thursday to oppose the consideration of area closures and other decisions that would impact the red snapper seasons for recreational anglers in the South Atlantic, WJXT-TV reported.
In the letter, the members urged NOAA to suspend the consideration of area closures and shorter red snapper seasons until the South Atlantic Great Red Snapper Count and other ongoing data collection programs are completed and integrated into the stock assessment process.
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Among the cosigners of the letter addressed to NOAA’s Administrator Richard Spinrad are Reps. Aaron Bean (FL-04), Nancy Mace (SC-01), Garret Graves (LA-06), Gus Bilirakis (FL-12), Russell Fry (SC-07), Buddy Carter (GA-01), Bruce Westerman (AR-04), Rep. Daniel Webster (FL-11), Rep. Jeff Duncan (SC-03), Austin Scott (GA-08), Byron Donalds (FL-19), Maria Elvira Salazar (FL-27), Ralph Norman (SC-05), Anna Paulina Luna (FL-13), Mario Diaz-Balart (FL-25), Michael Waltz (FL-06), Neal Dunn (FL-02), David Rouzer (FL-07), Mike Collins (GA-10), Scott Franklin (FL-18), Carlos Gimenez (FL-28), and Laurel Lee (FL-15).
“When we go from the Atlantic south, I don’t see any difference to find red snappers when we go from when we go to Tampa Bay area, or going offshore from Naples, or even going offshore any area by the Gulf. Same thing, exactly,” Local angler Kirollos Mikhaeli said.
While there may be no difference in the amount of fish in the waters, anglers fishing in the South Atlantic were only given one day this year to fish and keep red snapper by NOAA Fisheries.
In the Gulf of Mexico waters, anglers enjoyed a 103-day season.
“It’s crazy, like one day, this is so ridiculous, to be honest,” Mikhaeli said.
That’s why Rutherford wrote the letter to NOAA, asking them to reconsider the “draconian” closures for South Atlantic red snapper seasons.
“Over the last twelve years, the South Atlantic fishing community has worked hard to help rebuild the red snapper stock,” said Rutherford. “I have heard repeatedly from local anglers that they see more red snapper off the coast of Northeast Florida than they ever have seen before. That’s why last summer’s one-day season was confounding and ridiculous. I was proud to send a letter with my fellow House colleagues to urge NOAA not to implement draconian closures and use better data to evaluate the red snapper population. Florida’s anglers deserve dependable access to red snapper fishing.”
The letter is in response to NOAA Fisheries’ plan to prepare a Secretarial Amendment to end the overfishing of red snapper in the South Atlantic.
According to NOAA, this opportunity would also allow them to explore strategies that could increase fishing opportunities for red snapper by reducing the number of dead fish released.
In the letter to NOAA, Rutherford claimed that there is no “sufficient data to support area closures " and that these closures have “immense” economic implications.
“Current methods used to determine the health of the stock, and ultimately inform management decisions, do not provide an accurate picture of the red snapper stock,” Rutherford wrote.
A Secretarial Amendment is an amendment to a fishery management plan that NOAA Fisheries prepares on behalf of the Secretary of Commerce (Secretary). This Secretarial Amendment would amend the Fishery Management Plan for the Snapper-Grouper Fishery of the South Atlantic Region.