The South Atlantic Council (SAFMC) is responsible for the conservation and management of fish stocks within the federal waters of the South Atlantic including Florida’s East coast. In recent public hearings and publications the SAFMC has announced that they believe the snapper/grouper fisheries are over fished, and are experiencing over fishing. In plain angler terms, they are saying there are too many lines in the water and too few grouper/snapper in the water. As a result, the SAFMC is proposing drastic measures including seasonal closures, reduced bag limits, and fencing entire areas of the ocean from bottom fishing. You can tell them what you think of this by going to http://samfc.deep-blue-sea.org and submitting your comments electronically.

Too many lines…

The SAFMC uses commercial landings to determine fishing pressure and a combination of phone surveys and ramp/dock intercepts to determine recreational fishing pressure. There is a general consensus that the commercial landings accurately reflect most of the commercial fishing landings. When it comes to recreational data, there has been a great deal of controversy regarding the data that is collected, and the system (MRFSS) that is used to calculate fishing pressure.

SAFMC claims that recreational fishing pressure has increased 18% from 2006 to 2007. To determine this, they have used less than 3,000 actual intercepts of anglers to calculate fishing pressure and angling success for an estimated 8,317,491 trips in Florida. In addition, the telephone surveys used to measure angler activity have been determined to be highly unreliable because they depend on dialing prefixes to map to specific areas, and with the proliferation of cell phones, this method has become futile. The sample rates and reliability of the data collected by these two systems renders this information almost useless, and in the SAFMC staffers own words, the system is being used in a manner it was never designed for. The best description of the MRFSS system comes from a blue ribbon panel of scientist review of the system that stated, "The designs, sampling strategies, and collection methods of recreational fishing surveys do not provide adequate data for management and policy decisions.".

Given the data, the MRFSS system, and how it is used, it is doubtful that the SAFMC has an accurate measure or understanding of recreational fishing pressure. Every piece of anecdotal information from charter captains, fishing clubs, marinas, fuel docks, boat manufactures, and every other angler related business we have contacted has said angling offshore in the grouper/snapper areas has decreased 30-50% in the last 2 years. They do not know how many lines are in the water, or how many fish are being taken from the water by recreational anglers.

The SAFMC has stated that they believe the Red Snapper fishery has been over fished. Most anglers that have fished the East Coast of Florida will tell you there are more Red Snapper off from our coast than there has been in 40 years. This has been a perplexing question for many anglers, and here is the SAFMC’s explanation.

It is estimated that Red Snapper have a maximum life expectancy of 50 years. There is great value in having older fish since they produce more eggs. The SAFMC states that they are seeing very few older fish in their samples, and that this is an indication that the fishery is being over fished. The problem here again is in the details, and how the SAFMC collects fish for data.

Red Snapper stop growing at about 20 years. This means a 20 year old fish will lay about the same number of eggs as a 50 year old fish, so when determining the fishing stock, a 50 year old fish is no more valuable than a 20 year old fish, and all fish over 20 should be treated equal. In addition, there is quite a bit of variation in the age/weight characteristics of Red Snapper. A 50-pound fish was aged to be about 21 years old, and 40 year old fish have been as small as 21 pounds. The SAFMC wants to see these 50 year old fish to consider the stock as healthy. Other sources contend that as long as we have 20+ pound fish and 20 year and older fish, the Red Snapper are not to be considered over fished.

There is one other issue with the 50-year-old fish. SAFMC collects fish ear bones from commercial and recreational anglers to determine the fish’s age. They say the majority of the fish that are aged are 1-7 years old, and there are not many older fish. The reason they are not seeing many older fish is because the data is biased by the fact that both the recreational and commercial fisherman tend to target larger aggregations of fish over artificial and natural reefs. They are easier to find, and easier to catch, and tend to be shallower. Red Snapper that are 1-7 years old tend to live in concentrated aggregations in these areas, and are the target of angler determined selective fishing pressure. Once snapper hit 10 years old, they tend to be more solitary and move off to more isolated and deeper areas. This is why they are not seeing many older larger fish.

The SAFMC travels to different areas to hold public meetings to hear from you the angler. The problem is these meetings are usually on weekdays, and the average recreational angler cannot attend or contribute. In addition, the SAFMC has VERY little information on recreational fishing. This doesn’t mean you can’t voice your opinion. You can go to http://samfc.deep-blue-sea.org and submit your comments electronically, directly to them. You have a chance to tell them what you think, what you have seen, and give your opinion on the Red Snapper closures. Please take 5 minutes and make sure the SAFMC hears from you.