What Happened TO OUR FISH?
An educational series for Coastal Anglers
NOAA has initiated regional meetings to discuss recreational fishermen’s access to red snapper in the Gulf of Mexico. With NOAA’s management feeling pressured, meetings will likely be rolled out in multiple markets for other fish species. Thus, this example applies to all fisheries under their federal management.
The meeting is a “dog and pony show” designed to demonstrate that NOAA is “soliciting public involvement” – sadly, it appears they actually are not. The invitees are selected and limited – a mixture of 20 to 25 people partisan and/or minimally-informed participants. This mix helps NOAA’s leadership avoid being challenged (bad for their meeting minutes!)
Such meetings are promoted to “understand the issues and perspectives of recreational fishermen” – but the invited guests are not all recreational fishermen (who NOAA claims they want to hear from). Invitees may include those fattening their wallets from the current corrupted system. And, sadly, the recreational fishermen invited are those less educated on the facts, figures, past and future proposals. Sounds fishy already, huh?
NOAA begins public meetings by outlining the “problem” via their “fisheries stock assessment”. This is the foundation upon which the discussions proceed – which is also the basis of all the decisions they make (and have made for several years). The hypocrisy is that NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Services office (NMFS) has already testified before Congress that these stock assessment figures are inaccurate – in fact, NMFS testified that they do not even perform their stock assessment counts for reef fish, like the red snapper, on the reefs where they live!!!! They also fail to disclose that marine biologists report that NOAA’s stock assessments are off by as much as 400%!
The second “convenience” for NOAA is the most self-serving. After promoting their admittedly inaccurate stock assessment figures, they tout that the expansion of the Gulf’s red snapper fishery is solely attributable to their superlative management actions. We agree that a partial truth is hidden that statement; certainly, NOAA’s cutting the fishing season for recreational fishermen by 97% had an impact on the fish stocks. Taking away 97% of the access for recreational fishermen would have an impact. BUT . . . NOAA (conveniently) ignores that foremost marine biologists have attributed a totally different series of causative actions as the primary reason for the recovery of Gulf’s red snapper population.
Throughout the 1990’s “bycatch” (the killing of juvenile fish in shrimp nets) was devastating the Gulf’s fisheries – reportedly ten pounds of young fish were killed for every pound of shrimp harvested. Accordingly, prior to the year 2000, the Magnuson Stevens act was modified to require NOAA to improve bycatch performance from the shrimp trawling industry.
The use of bycatch excluder devices in shrimp trawling was mandated. These proved effective and cut the bycatch mortality by 40%. Four years later, improved devices further cut the mortality – nearly 75% of the young fish that were previously killed were now being saved. Shrimp trawlers, often called “the wrecking balls of the sea”, were a tremendous problem for the fishery but 75% less devastation was still a big improvement – finfish bycatch was reduced from 10 pounds to 2 ½ pounds for every per pound of shrimp harvested.
Beginning in 2001 imported shrimp made a huge entrance into the marketplace. Sharp competition plummeted the price of shrimp by over 50%. Annual shrimp trawling trips fell by over 50%. The erosion of profitability squeezed nearly half of the Gulf’s shrimp trawlers out of business. By the mid 2000’s each shrimp trawler was killing 75% less juvenile fish and half of shrimping fleet had exited the market. Combined, this HUGELY impacted the populations of juvenile and young adult red snapper (and all Gulf fish)! It became obvious that the red snapper population was growing – and, over time, so was the size of the average fish caught. Formerly killed juvenile fish were growing to adulthood, breeding and expanding the population. The average size was increased by the percentage of more mature fish in the population counts – fish that were saved by the excluder devices and from the drastic reduction in shrimping activity.
In 2005 Hurricane Katrina hit the upper Gulf, the heart of the devastated shrimping industry; 90% of the shrimp trawling fleet was destroyed. With the business being unprofitable, shrimpers either voluntarily abandoned the industry or were unable to secure bank financing to repair their boats and get back into business. Top marine biologists have told us that the 75% reduction in bycatch destruction, a 50% reduction in the fleet due to economics and a 90% devastation to the fleet had tremendous effects on the fish populations.
By 2007 the Gulf’s red snapper fishery was significantly less threatened. Those young fish have now grown and bred for as many as 10 years – the same period wherein NOAA credits their fisheries management for the population’s recovery. Hmmm; really? Who’s to believe that? The fact is that the huge reduction in the killing of juvenile fishes, extrapolated out through ten years and numerous spawning seasons has saved the Gulf red snapper population (and numerous other species as well.)
Does anyone ACTUALLY believe NOAA was the driving force in the Gulf’s red snapper recovery?
Have an opinion or topics you’d like us to pursue? Email us at RecreationalFishemen@gmail.com. Learn more, stay abreast, and share your thoughts on our Facebook page “WhatHappenedToOurFish?”