HOUSTON, TX – A startling pair of admissions by the Department of Commerce (DOC) confirm the need for emergency management action to end overfishing of red snapper by the Gulf of Mexico shrimp fleet. Responding to a suit filed by Coastal Conservation Association, the DOC concedes that shrimp trawl bycatch is the largest source of red snapper mortality in the Gulf and that current efforts to reduce bycatch have fallen well short of targeted goals.

“At least we can agree on the plain facts of the situation as stated in our complaint challenging the red snapper rebuilding plan and our petition demanding that the Secretary of Commerce issue emergency regulations to reduce bycatch in the shrimp fishery,” said David Cummins, CCA president. “Now it is time for the federal government to take the next step, accept our petition and employ the measures we have outlined to begin the process of reducing the impact of shrimp trawl bycatch.”

Convinced that current management efforts to recover red snapper stocks were destined to fail, CCA petitioned the Secretary of Commerce in March to implement emergency measures, including bycatch quotas, area closures, seasonal closures and effort reduction measures, to achieve significant bycatch reduction on the order of 60-80 percent. The DOC admitted yesterday that current bycatch reduction devices have achieved only a 12 percent reduction.

Even if commercial and recreational fishermen targeting red snapper were barred from Gulf waters, given bycatch reduction of 12 percent red snapper would still fail to recover. CCA has maintained that commercial and recreational fishers have adhered to their quotas, seasons and bag limits, while the shrimp industry has essentially wasted all those efforts, resulting in a severely depleted red snapper stock.

“Now that we are in agreement on the severity of the problem and where the responsibility for it lies, it is time to move on to ways of addressing it in a manner that will produce results,” said CCA Government Relations Committee Chairman Fred Miller. “To admit that the Gulf shrimp industry is responsible for the vast majority of red snapper mortality in terms of number of fish would certainly seem to be all the impetus needed to grant our petition.”