Snapper season shortened for 2010

Red snapper season will be shortened by at least two weeks in 2010.

At the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservations Commission’s (FWC) regular quarterly meeting in Apalachicola Feb. 18, commissioners learned the Gulf of Mexico Fisheries Management Council (GMFMC) has decided snapper season, which begins on June 1, will only extend into July.

The exact length of the season will not be announced until early March.

The actual amount of snapper harvested will be increased from 5 million pounds in 2009 to 7 million pounds and will continue to increase over the next few years as the fishery recovers. The bag limit for recreational fishermen remains two fish a minimum of 16 inches long.

Bill Teehan, the FWC representative to the Fisheries Council, said the snapper fishery in the Gulf is definitely recovering and the size of fish being harvested is increasing.

Pam Anderson, manager and part owner of Captain Anderson’s Marina in Panama City and spokesperson for the Panama City Boatman’s Association, said shortening the season is a hard blow for the charter fishing community.

“We always say if the season runs five months we break even and at six months we make a profit,” she said.

Anderson was among many recreational and commercial fishermen who told FWC that, contrary to data collected by GMFMC, snapper are abundant in the Gulf and may be damaging other fish species.

 “I caught snapper at the end of last season with a cane pole within sight of the pine trees,” said charter captain Chip Blackburn of Mexico Beach. “To say there is a shortage of snapper is giving science a bad name.”

Russell Crofton, of St. George Island, said, “There are so many snapper right now you can’t get past them to fish for grouper. They eat everything. They are ruining the other fish.”

The Boatman’s Association contends data on snapper populations in the Gulf is faulty. They point to a 2006 study by the National Research Foundation, which argued collection methods and statistical models used to measure the snapper population are flawed and a new monitoring system should be designed.

The Boatmen joined forces with other commercial and recreational fishing groups around the country and traveled to Washington DC last week to draw attention to the need for better information when making fishery decisions. Two busloads of North Florida fishermen were among the protestors.

Anderson said GMFMC has requested $54 million in 2011 to promote a quota system allocating a share of the total catch to recreational and commercial fishermen. “We want that money to be used to collect better information so the Fisheries Council can make an informed decision about fishing seasons and bag limits,” she said.