Federal fishery officials, fearing red snapper stocks are at risk of depletion, may ban harvesting for the species for six months or more, beginning as early as October. It's a move that's not going over well with the fishing community.
Both commercial and recreational fishermen from Florida in the Carolinas argue there's plenty of fish out there, thanks to size and catch restrictions implemented in recent years. But the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council's plan, known as Amendment 17, may remove the species from area menus for an extended period, because the stocks aren't up to snuff with federal stock-rebuilding mandates.
The federal government, which says size and bag limits are not working, welcomed public comments about the proposed closure through Aug. 5. A National Marine Fisheries Service spokesman says, despite a big year class that's yielding promising catches, that stocks are in pretty bad shape. NMFS has scheduled an updated stock assessment for red snapper for next year.
NMFS already announced it would shut down the recreational and commercial shallow-water grouper fishery in south Atlantic federal waters from January through April The recreational vermilion snapper fishery will close from November through March.
In mid-July, fresh whole red snappers were selling in the low-$5 range for 2- to 4-pounders. Gutted fish out of New York's Fulton Fish Market were priced in the low- to mid-$6 range.
Source Citation
Wright, James. "Red snapper closure imminent: feds may shut fishery down this fall." Seafood Business 28.8 (2009): 12. Academic OneFile. Web. 19 Mar. 2010.
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