Red Snapper: Ecology and Fisheries in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico

Abstract

<em>Abstract.</em>—The red snapper <em>Lutjanus campechanus </em>fishery has been in existence in the Gulf of Mexico since the mid-1800s. However, management of this species did not begin until more than a century afterward. Federal management of the fisheries in the Gulf of Mexico began in 1976 with the passage of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act and the establishment of the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council (Council). One of the first fishery management plans (FMP) developed by the Council was the Reef Fish FMP. This FMP was implemented in November 1984 and established the first red snapper size and bag limits. In 1988, the stock was determined to be overfished. Since then, the fishery has been managed to stay within total allowable catch levels in order to rebuild the stock. Management methods have included size limits, bag limits, season closures, trip limits, and license limitation programs. The success of these methods has been limited in part due to high levels of juvenile red snapper mortality associated with shrimp trawling, high rates of discard mortality from the directed fishery, and socioeconomic requirements of the directed fisheries to maintain some minimal level of harvest.