Fighting for a Longer Red Snapper Season

Last Saturday, I joined old friends, local biologists and anglers in the final day of the 2017 federal red snapper season. Red snapper fishing, both commercially and recreationally, is a big part of the economy and people’s lives along the Gulf Coast. Unfortunately, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), in an effort to conserve the red snapper population, limited the recreational fishing season this year to just three days. However, when our group went out, the fish were so plentiful that had I not thrown back three legal but small snapper, I would have limited out in less than five minutes. With the seemingly abundant population and much longer commercial fishing season, it’s clear recreational fishermen are not getting their fair share of the snapper.

As Chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on the Interior, Energy and the Environment, I held a hearing recently to examine the management of red snapper fishing in the Gulf of Mexico. NOAA and other agencies currently regulating the fishing season are not using sound science to make quotas, with huge discrepancies between federally-recorded and state-recorded fishing data.

That’s why my colleagues in Washington and I are working hard to get recreational fisherman more days. Negotiations are currently ongoing between the U.S. Department of Commerce and representatives in the House from five Gulf states, including myself, to expand the season for recreational fishermen. This would be a good first step in combating this year’s shortened season.

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