Update to Red Snapper Calibrations and Gray Snapper Catch Limits
Overview
Fishery Management
Fishing Type
Commercial,
Recreational
Affected Species
Gray Snapper
Action Status
Proposed Rule
Published
01/17/2024
Point of Contact
Daniel Luers, 727-824-5305, Daniel.Luers@noaa.gov
Summary
This action would update state specific private angling component calibration ratios and annual catch limits (ACL) to provide a more accurate estimate of state landings for red snapper management and update gray snapper catch limits including the overfishing limit (OFL), acceptable biological catch (ABC), and ACL based on the most recent gray snapper stock assessment.
Red Snapper
Under state management, each state uses its own data collection program to estimate private angler red snapper harvest and constrain landings to its state specific ACL. However, NMFS has observed differences (sometimes substantial) between federal estimates of recreational catch and each state’s own estimate. Further, the red snapper catch limits, such as the OFL and total recreational ACL, are based, in part, on private-angling landings estimated using the Federal data collection system, and NMFS uses the estimates from the federal survey to determine whether landings exceed the total recreational ACL (quota) and the stock OFL. Therefore, there is a need to calibrate state and federal landing estimates. The calibration allows estimates produced using one method to be compared to the estimates produced using a different method. In January of 2023, NMFS implemented a final rule and framework action that applied calibration ratios to the federal ACLs for each state by which states would manage to in their own units. The proposed framework action considered here would update the calibration ratios for Alabama, Florida, and Mississippi based on more recent data.
Gray Snapper
In December 2022, the SEFSC finalized a new stock assessment report for gray snapper (SEDAR 75). SEDAR 75 resolved several concerns from the previous stock assessment, and incorporated updated recreational landings data calibrated to the Marine Recreation Information Program's Fishing Effort Survey (MRIP-FES) rather than the MRIP Coastal Household Telephone Survey, which had been used in the previous assessment.. SEDAR 75 incorporated data through 2020. This action would update gray snapper catch limits including the OFL, ABC, and ACL based on SEDAR 75 and approved as the best scientific information available by the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council's Scientific and Statistical Committee.