Thursday, July 7, 2022

2023 Red Snapper Season Endangered

 Senator Roger Wicker penned this column. 

Fishing for red snapper is a popular pastime on the Gulf Coast, one that brings together fishermen, boat makers, bait suppliers, and restaurant owners. This prosperous industry centers on three months of open fishing during the summer.

To my dismay, regulators in Washington are now proposing a rule that could cut Mississippi’s season down to two weeks without any sound science. If they succeed, the Gulf Coast will needlessly suffer.

Last week, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) released a proposed rule that would drastically curb Mississippi’s recreational red snapper catch limit from over 150,000 lbs. to 59,000 lbs., an amount that took less than three weeks for Mississippi anglers to catch last year. This new quota is based on the false assumption we are overfishing.

The problem boils down to NOAA’s flawed data collection methods.

NOAA calculates our fishing levels based on non-empirical phone surveys. Based on these surveys, NOAA estimates there are 1,500 fishing boats on the water daily in Mississippi. But this figure is overblown.

For several years, Mississippi and other Gulf Coast states have been collecting our own field data. In Mississippi, we have pioneered the “Tails n’ Scales” app, which allows anglers to report their own catch through their phones. This has enabled Mississippi to track 95 percent of all red snapper anglers. Based on these and other state metrics, last year Mississippi counted 256 fishing boats on the busiest day of red snapper season. Yet NOAA has failed to give our numbers due consideration.

NOAA’s badly informed rule came as a surprise to me.

Last year, Congress gave the agency $2 million to explore better data calibration methods, but these appear absent from the new rule. I had even received assurances from Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo that Mississippi would be treated more fairly after getting a raw deal in previous rules. This proposal is yet a disappointment, and I have told Secretary Raimondo as much.

Mississippi will not be alone in bearing the cost of NOAA’s poor methods. Anglers in Alabama stand to lose weeks if not months of their fishing season. No state is ultimately safe from federal rules that disregard the best data. With the proposed rule now listed in the Federal Register, I would encourage all stakeholders to provide public comment on why NOAA got this wrong. The public comment period ends July 28. Every voice counts. There is still hope for a reversal before the rule takes effect Jan. 1, 2023.

NOAA is rightly concerned about sustainability, but accurate data is essential in balancing the various interests at stake. It is highly disturbing that NOAA’s flawed data caused it to overestimate Mississippi’s fishing effort by almost 600 percent, when Mississippi’s data has been lauded for its accuracy. NOAA will continue to lose our confidence until it starts replacing its outdated estimates with empirical data collected by states. NOAA Director Richard Spinrad needs to treat states as partners, not adversaries.

I will be pressing him for answers until he changes course.


 

Kingfish note: The Federal Register published the following information for public comments. 

 Written comments must be received on or before July 28, 2022.

Electronic Submission: Submit all electronic public comments via the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal. Go to https://www.regulations.gov and enter “NOAA-NMFS-2022-0028”, in the Search box. Click on the “Comment” icon, complete the required fields, and enter or attach your comments.

Mail: Submit written comments to Dan Luers, Southeast Regional Office, NMFS, 263 13th Avenue South, St. Petersburg, FL 33701.

The rule was published in the Federal Register on June 28. 

 

33 comments:

Anonymous said...

Saul Alinski said it well: divide the people and make them poor, then they will be easier to control. From selling strategic oil reserves to our enemies, to inhibiting fossil fuel production, to nonsensical business regulation, and now to fishing.

This Administration wants to make us poor and dependent, and thus easy to control.

Anonymous said...

I’d bet the feds have the more accurate numbers than Roger.

Anonymous said...

#SHADFORSENATE!!!

Anonymous said...

Mississippi fishermen aren’t endangering the Red Snapper. It’s the ChiComs.
Of course nobody at Davos is going to tell the ChiComs what to do.
So they told Wicker to tell us to stop harvesting our share.
Who is he serving by not revealing this? China or the WEF?

You VILL eat ze bugs! 🐛 🐜 🕷

Anonymous said...

But, Wicker will go right along and vote for the next spending bill that gives all of these out of control federal agencies money to come up with these garbage rules.

Anonymous said...

All part of the leftist, progressive establishment clowns. And I hate to break to you readers, Wicker is nothing but a RINO and indebted to the WOKE establishment and the new global world order.

Anonymous said...

Hey Roge,

I'm not much on Red Snapper, but I would like to afford to drive to Captain D's every now and then.

Regards,
The vast majority of your constituents

Anonymous said...

I guess you can't burn down the ocean like these food processing plants across the country, so this is the next best option.

That'sMisterDeplorableToYou said...

I went on a charter tour last year for snapper. We caught fish after fish after fish that were anywhere from a 1/4 to a 1/2 inch too short. We had to throw them back of course, but snapper swallow those hooks so deep that it literally pulls their guts out to remove the hook most times. We'd throw the fish back and it would just sink to the bottom. The crabs ate good anyway.

Somebody above said...

"I guess you can't burn down the ocean like these food processing plants across the country, so this is the next best option."

Yeah, but you could demand NOAA to resume underwater nuclear testing and blow every red snapper out of the gulf delivered to your front yard from 120,000 feet in the air, fully cooked, and well, Roger, he's just the guy to get that done!

Anonymous said...

If they were so concerned with the red snapper population, how about not increasing the flow of freshwater into the gulf? We don't want that Yankee water killing off everything that is good about the gulf.

Also, stop allowing so many darn casino resorts from setting up shop right on the water. How does that affect the fish population?

Anonymous said...

"In Mississippi, we have pioneered the “Tails n’ Scales” app, which allows anglers to report their own catch through their phones. This has enabled Mississippi to track 95 percent of all red snapper anglers."

Uh-huh.

And meanwhile, I happened to secure a draft of the next "penned by Senator Wicker" column from the intern who is writing it.

"DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT

At Parchman Farm, the finishing touches are being put on a new self-service welcome center. It allows all the Mississippi criminals who have self-arrested, self-tried, self-convicted, and self-sentenced to speedily admit themselves to prison. As an added bonus, since it is entirely automated it frees up corrections hosts to monitor prisoners who expressed disinterest in the overall program, "Prisoners for Progress," of which the new welcome center is but a small part.

WORK IN QUOTE (OR ADD TO P.R.?)

In praising the program at the 4-day gala at Sandestin celebrating the delivery of the welcome center, Senator Dumbfuck (Note to self change before emailing to RW for approval) said, 'I couldn't be more pleased. For the measly sum of $9.7 billion, we were able to buy a shed from Home Depot, have it delivered, and with the addition of the ball-and-chain dispensers, the center will be up and running. And the timing couldn't be better! We have this new app, "Bust Yo Ass," which criminals use to self-convict, and our numbers show that 95% of all criminals in Mississippi are now using it, thereby creating long waiting lines at the manned gate.'

###"

Anonymous said...

The northern gulf red snapper limitations are the biggest fleecing that has ever taken place in marine waters. They are stripping the harvest numbers from the private recreation fishermen and allowing the for profit commercial fishermen an open season. Anyone who fishes offshore will tell you that the red snapper is far from endangered and actually over populated since they started throttling back the recreational harvest. That is why no one should buy red snapper at a restaurant. This fiasco is total BS and it has been proven that NOAA's books were off and falsified information used. Louisianna told them to get fqued. Mississippi doesn't have the stones. This is all about the commercial fishermen.

Anonymous said...

The federal government has caused more death to red snapper and loss of habitat structure by mandating the blowing up of old oil rigs than all recreational fishermen combined. NOAA is a group of liberal scientists who would like nothing more than to shut down fishing in the gulf for their agenda.

Anonymous said...

Getting rid of environmental regulations is great for Koch Industries, et. al., and the egos of their proponents. But a lot of other industries and livelihoods suffer. Had we taken better care of the Gulf, I doubt we'd be having this conversation.

Anonymous said...

It’s funny. Roger and his red snapper herring.

Gas / diesel is too high so we can’t drive our four wheel drives!!

Wahhhhhhh!!!

But all of a sudden we wanna go fish (and spend lots of $$$ on fuel) for red snapper off the coast and the feds make it too hard…..wahhhaaaaaaaa!

Folks…not a single honest soul targets red snapper anymore. For the last decade you could not catch enough to warrant the effort to raise the fish.

So roger goes to bat to stir the pot for a very small group of people who honestly don’t really care about red snapper.

More stir the shit politics….

Want to solve the problem roger? (And you don’t) whack the long line fishermen who kill with reckless abandon….and listen got the universities who study the fish populations daily…..

What a turd.

Krusatyr said...

11:01 "I'm not much for Red Snapper"
Try soft fish tacos with charcoal grilled Snapper and slaw, pepper strips, avocado, tomato, cilantro. To die for!

Anonymous said...

To our dismay Wicker makes comment he thinks will get Mississippians fooled into thinking he works for our best interests. Just like his soon to be replacement Guest.

Anonymous said...

Hi, I'm from the government and I'm here to control...err help you.

Anonymous said...

I agree Senator, but neither should States treat the Federal government as an adversary.
And, while I applaud you for attempting to be cooperative about fishing, I don't see you challenging positions with zero science or factual basis that the party of Trump embarrasses.

Anonymous said...

Very shortsighted.
Pandering to those who would be affected in the short term. What will you say when the fish is depleted and there are not just shortened seasons, but NO seasons.
Just like the shortsightedness of the oil industry - make money NOW, but destroy the environment for the future in the process.

Stop with your conspiracy theories. There is no RINO or WOKE or right or left that matters. EVERYONE had better start looking at the big picture and long term for our future generations and this entire world. This audience, for the most part, is incapable of looking beyond their selfish needs.

Anonymous said...

Damn, Roger. How do your folks type this drivel without their noses growing and poking a hole in the monitor? There are MORE red snapper than ever. There are BIGGER red snapper than ever. Roger, it's math. If we have to have quotas so that the commercial fishermen don't destroy the entire stock, then catching BIGGER fish FASTER leads to a shorter season. The commercial folks still get a majority of it.

Fish are DOUBLE the size of 10 years ago. And snapper produce more eggs, not less, as they get older to about age 20. So, more fish.

Since the fish are getting bigger and older, things are better. More people are catching more and bigger fish faster. Complain??? Of course you will.

In other words, if your RINO rich buddies went out on opening day to the heated shoot house overlooking the corn feeder and kill 4 10 point bucks the first hour, they ought not to expect to do that every day for 3 months. But, of course, they'd just import illegal genetically engineered deer from Texas (which has snapper season open all year) to offset their suffering.

Things have gotten better, but the liquor stores, tacky restaurants, and marinas are upset that folks are catching bigger fish faster. Greed.

Why don't you explain we get about 3% of the quota and you are pretty quiet on that fact? Might not make you look good.

It's taken 17 years for numbers to get better, and you complain when they stick with the BUSH management plan you helped fund in 2005.

If the catch goes over limits, there are cutbacks. Last year was HUGE in catch. It's MATH, Roger. Stop the 2 year old whining, or just stick to more Corporate Welfare for your buddies as you always concentrate upon.

Anonymous said...

Getting re-elected ain't anything; it's everything.

Anonymous said...

"Folks…not a single honest soul targets red snapper anymore. For the last decade you could not catch enough to warrant the effort to raise the fish."

150% false. Red snapper are probably the most targeted species in the gulf by private fishermen and charter boats. They are a valuable asset; however they are not overfished. They reproduce at a rapid rate. They are a 2 fish per person limit and most everyone catches their two and move on to other species while out there. Used to you could make a full trip just for red snapper until the government lied and said they were endangered based off of false information. We always stop on our way in from tuna fishing to catch our 2/per every trip. This really is a big deal and not a red herring. People who fish the gulf have been fighting this BS for years. The overfishing/endangered spill is a total lie. You can't even get a hook to the bottom for other species before the snapper eat it. There are too many since they limited the season and shortened the harvest to 2/per

Signed,

Someone who actually fishes and knows what they are talking about.

Anonymous said...

2:34 speaks truth.

Anonymous said...

Same off the Florida coast in the Atlantic. Can hardly get a hook to the bottom for other species before the snapper gobble it up. Their snapper regulations have been strict for some time now and need to be eased. I can load the boat with snapper any time I please. Any fisherman worth his salt absolutely knows they are not endangered.

Anonymous said...

11:44, 11:48, and 2:34 nailed it. The last time we went snapper fishing, we limited out within 15 minutes of dropping hooks in the water, and these were NICE sized fish well above the minimum size. We spent close to $2,000 in guide fees, hotel expense, fuel, licenses and supplies for this trip in order to keep 4 snapper fillets (2 snapper) per person. Meanwhile, commercial boats catch them snapper by the thousands (probably millions) and those fillets only bring a few dollars to the economy... one fillet might retail for $10-$20. But no politician dares speak against the commercial operations because they spend their money on lobbyists and campaign donations, not the local economy.

If you want to see something depressing, search online for the thousands of dead fish floating after they sink an old platform. You know, the same fish that are too endangered to allow a recreational fisherman to keep TWO of. Those structures are habitat for fish and other species and they're being destroyed.

I'm no Wicker fan but he's right to speak out against this. It's truly a crock of shit.

Anonymous said...

in 2011 the snapper season was reduced to six weeks, previously there was no season.I don't recall the slot limit but it had increased as well. The gulf coast was still deep in recovering from Katina. The Deep Water Horizon had just sunk, polluting the gulf for an unknown time...diesel was $4.00 and gas was $3.50
After twenty years of fishing out of Venice I sold the offshore boat and diesel tow truck. It was fun while it lasted but this combination of events made my mind up, I haven't been back. I'm sure other offshore fishermen came too and will come to the same conclusion.

Anonymous said...

"We spent close to $2,000 in guide fees, hotel expense, fuel, licenses and supplies for this trip in order to keep 4 snapper fillets (2 snapper) per person."

Jesus. Shades of Lewis Grizzard (RIP) - I don't believe I'da told that.

If I may offer, this is yet another abortion argument, albeit on a much smaller scale with fewer oxen to be gored. A few loudmouth idiots on this side, a few on that side, and the vast middle suffering the consequences of the distortions, bifurcation, and stupid-assed shit of both extremes. Quit it. Just say no.

Anonymous said...

Ain't nothing tastier than a $500 Filet-o-Fish sandwich or a $2000 venison steak! It proves your superior class and fine taste, just like a leased Range Rover or 5000 dollar shotgun.

Anonymous said...

For any new readers to the blog, I would like to welcome you to the Jackson Jambalaya comment board. Here you will find some of the most fascinating, knowledgeable, versatile, entertaining posters in the world, and none are ever wrong.

Signed, anonymous

Anonymous said...

Some people spend their time and money watching grown men chase a ball around a field. I like to hunt and fish instead.

Caught a limit of snapper almost immediately, then went after equally plentiful species with more realistic limits. Went home with a cooler full of fish after a nice vacation weekend.

You can make of that what you wish, but Wicker is right. Federal agencies are full of environmentalist extremists. They will put an end to recreational hunting and fishing if they can. This is only one of many examples.

Anonymous said...

Who's gonna primary Wicker? Let's please get the ball rolling...


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