Red Snapper

Restoring an Iconic Fish Population in the Gulf of Mexico

RED SNAPPER

Red snapper get iced down on a fishing dock.

Fishermen have pursued red snapper, one of the most important and well-known fish from the Gulf of Mexico, for more than 125 years. But the popularity of this Gulf staple has come at a high price. Over the years, poor management and unsustainable fishing practices dramatically depleted this once-abundant resource.

The Problems

Long considered the poster child for poor fisheries management, red snapper in the Gulf suffered from two major problems: First, managers allowed fishermen to catch numbers well above the levels recommended by scientists. And second, too many smaller red snapper were killed as bycatch either caught as juveniles in nets meant for shrimp or caught by fishermen seeking red snapper but discarded because they were too small. The combination resulted in overfishing (catching fish faster than they can reproduce), and reduced the breeding population in the Gulf to less than three percent of their natural levels. Clearly snapper needed better management, guided by science.

What Ocean Conservancy Is Doing to Help

After years of work to turn the tide, with Ocean Conservancy involved every step of the way, fishery managers unanimously approved a plan in the summer of 2007 that sets a science-based limit on how many red snapper fishermen are allowed to catch and reduces destructive bycatch. These measures are aimed at ending overfishing, rebuilding the red snapper population to a healthy level, and improving the Gulf’s ecosystem and coastal economies.

Ocean Conservancy played an especially important role in this process by building support for science-based management among commercial, recreational, and shrimp fishermen along with seafood industry representatives, fishery managers, seafood consumers, state and federal decision-makers, and concerned citizens. This “fishery to fork” approach focuses on the need for all involved to engage in fixing troubled fisheries, and will be critical to rebuilding fisheries like red snapper. The new plan carries several hallmarks of sustainable management:

• Science-based catch levels.
• Strong enforcement of these science-based catch levels.
• Greatly reduced bycatch.
• Economic incentives that encourage sustainable fishing.

Shared responsibility has been key to rebuilding the red snapper fishery. Commercial and recreational fishermen have reduced their allowable catch by 40 percent in the short term, and commercial fishermen moved to adopt an Individual Fishing Quota (IFQ) program to provide incentives for sustainable fishing and ensure greater accountability for and monitoring of their impacts on red snapper. Furthermore, commercial shrimp fishermen reduced their red snapper bycatch levels by 74 percent. The rewards come in the long term; data from the National Marine Fisheries Service show that a rebuilt red snapper population can sustainably support a catch almost three times larger than the current level.

Early signs on the water indicate that the rebuilding plan is working. Red snapper populations are increasing and fish are returning to places where they haven’t been seen in a generation. Now a model for recovery—a poster child for potential—red snapper shows us that the right management decisions today lead to a better fishery tomorrow.

Moving Forward

To help realize the full benefits of recovery, Ocean Conservancy is active on multiple fronts. For instance, restaurants, grocery stores, and other major seafood buyers who depend on the long-term availability of wild fish like red snapper have typically not been engaged in the proceedings to establish fishery regulatory policies. Through our efforts to support the sustainability of Gulf seafood, we are engaging these key stakeholders in fisheries management decisions that are important to their businesses.

We also support shrimp fishermen who implement "best practices" that reduce the number of red snapper discarded as bycatch. For example, we are working with the seafood industry, Texas Sea Grant, and the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership to assist Gulf shrimp fishermen with the transition to "cleaner" gear that reduces bycatch, improves fuel efficiency, improves shrimp quality, and may even have less impact on the ocean floor.

What You Can Do to Help

• Join Ocean Conservancy's online community to learn more and stay up-to-date on ocean issues.
• Find out more about your favorite seafood: Where does it come from? Is it overfished? Does the gear used to catch it harm the sea floor or marine animals?
• Stay connected with us going forward to help ensure that red snapper stays on a path to successful rebuilding.