U.S. Reps. John Rutherford and Stephanie Murphy and 14 of their colleagues recently introduced H.R. 9373, the Red Snapper Act. This bipartisan legislation would prevent the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) from implementing area closures in the South Atlantic until the South Atlantic Great Red Snapper Count study is complete and the findings are integrated into the fishery’s stock assessment.
Recreational fishing in Florida is a major economic driver that produced $9.2 billion in economic output and supported 88,501 jobs in 2020. Over the past decade, the South Atlantic fishing community has worked hard to rebuild the red snapper stock. However, due to a lack of good data, seasons remain short and fail to reflect the real number of red snapper in the region. To fix this, Congress appropriated $5.1 million over the last three years to fund the count, which will deliver reliable data on abundance, genomics and mortality and improve access to red snapper fishing for anglers.
Earlier this year, NOAA proposed closures for all bottom fishing in the South Atlantic in an effort to decrease the red snapper caught outside of the two-day recreational season. While the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council ultimately rejected NOAA’s proposal, the threat of future closures persists. The Red Snapper Act would prevent NOAA from making future sweeping management decisions until the count is complete.
“For too long, Florida’s anglers have been forced to put up with bad science and short red snapper seasons,” said Rutherford. “The sweeping closures proposed by NOAA would have devastated our economy right here in Northeast Florida. Our bipartisan Red Snapper Act will stop NOAA from closing fisheries and force them to use better data. Florida anglers deserve dependable access to red snapper fishing now and for years to come.”
The Red Snapper Act has been endorsed by the Center for Sportfishing Policy, the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation, the Coastal Conservation Association and the American Sportfishing Association.
