The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) announced the state recreational red snapper season will close at 12:01 a.m. on September 8th. We anticipate that private recreational anglers will have harvested our state’s historic and projected share of the total Gulf of Mexico private angler red snapper harvest  (745,000 pounds, or 18 percent of the total) on this date. The state season has been open since March 20, 2015.
 
For the past two years, the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission has opened a separate recreational red snapper season in state waters to extend Louisiana’s season beyond the federal season. Set based on imprecise, untimely estimates of recreational red snapper landings from the Marine Recreational Information Program (MRIP), federal seasons have been overly restrictive in recent years and have short-changed anglers on fishing days and their share of the annual harvest. Fortunately, LDWF replaced MRIP with LA Creel, an improved recreational landings data collection program, and is able to precisely monitor recreational landings in real-time and set flexible seasons that allow our anglers to take full advantage of the available red snapper resource.
 
“In Louisiana, our anglers and staff are committed to providing the best data possible on our fisheries. Because of this, we’re able to be fully accountable for the amount of red snapper our anglers harvest and responsibly manage our recreational fishing seasons,” said Robert Barham, Secretary of LDWF. “Most of all, we’re able to maximize our anglers’ opportunities to get out on the water and fish red snapper, providing our private anglers 172 red snapper fishing days during this state season.”
 
Unfortunately, these opportunities did not extend to the entire saltwater fishing population. In 2014, the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council voted to amend the management plan for the Gulf red snapper fishery and separate the recreational sector into two components: federally-permitted charter captains and private anglers (including charter captains without federal permits). This amendment also allocated the quota between the two components and established separate seasons for recreational red snapper fishing in federal waters. NOAA Fisheries implemented these provisions for the first time for the 2015 fishing season. For 2015, federal charter captains received 2.371 million pounds of the catch and were allowed to fish June 1 through July 15, 2015; private anglers received 3.234 million pounds and were allowed to fish June 1 through June 11, 2015.
 
While our private anglers and non-federally permitted charter captains were able to fish during our extended state season after federal waters closed, federally-permitted charter captains had to cease operations as federal law prohibits them from fishing outside of the federal season. In the end, these captains and our industry lost out on thousands of pounds of potential red snapper catch and numerous fishing trips, which translate into lost economic benefits. Specifically, based on the formula the Council used to separate the private and charter sectors, federally-permitted Louisiana charter captains historically landed 11.4 percent of the Gulfwide charter landings of red snapper and should have had the opportunity to land 338 thousand pounds of red snapper for 2015. However, observed landings fell well short of that figure—the charter sector only landed around 215 thousand pounds, or 64 percent of their historic landings. With 36 percent of their projected and historic share left unharvested, federal charter captains could have likely run fishing trips for several more months, had they been able to participate in the flexible state season.   
 
“The benefits our private anglers enjoyed in 2015 did not extend to our entire recreational fishing industry because the charter sector was shut down before they could harvest their share of the total Gulf of Mexico recreational red snapper harvest,” said Randy Pausina, Assistant Secretary for Fisheries, LDWF. “Louisiana’s federally-permitted charter captains were allocated 338 thousand pounds and given a 45-day season.  During that season they were only able to land 215 thousand pounds, leaving 123,000 pounds on the table.  This resulted in lost opportunities for our charter captains due to NOAA Fisheries’ inability to monitor landings in real-time during the season and appropriately manage the fishery. We’ll continue to do whatever we can to improve how this fishery operates, but until LDWF has the full authority to manage this fishery, private anglers and charter businesses will continue to suffer.”
 
LDWF is charged with managing and protecting Louisiana's abundant natural resources. For more information, visit us atwww.wlf.louisiana.gov, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ldwffb, or follow us on Twitter @LDWF.  To receive recreational or commercial fishing email and text alerts, signup at http://www.wlf.la.gov/signup.
 
For press inquiries, contact Rene LeBreton at rlebreton@wlf.la.gov or (504) 286-8745.