Red Snapper dates, - The Hull Truth

pappastratos · 05-15-2009, 09:49 AM

Saw the snapper dates for Alabama,
I see the word "RECREATIONAL" fisherman catching snapper. This does not include "commerical" ? Correct ? What are the commerical dates ?
Back to my orginal question,,how can my 2 snapper hurt the population ? OK, there are 4 guys in my boat, how can our 8 snapper damage the population ? OK, lots of boats,,I have been out and seen 15 boats on a Saturday during snapper season, 15 boats, x4 guys, x2 snapper = 120 fish. Sure, there were 20 times the boats I could not see, but come on. Does the commerical guys affect the local economy ? They probably can't speak english,,

capt_dalton · 05-15-2009, 11:10 AM

Each commercial license holder gets a "quota" of the total commercial allowable catch. That quota is determined based on his past landing records.

So say a comm. guy has a 16,000# quota. He can fish anytime he wants. He does not have a "season". He just fishes until his 16,000#s is met.

To me it is an entitlement program and I am not for such programs. Oh yes, their "shares" can be sold and traded to other license holders so conceivably, one license holder could end up with all of the shares.

There are relatively few red snapper permit holders in the gulf, somewhere around or under 200. I would think there are several hundred thousand potential recreational anglers fishing for red snapper in a given year. So, the NMFS has made the law such that there is much for the few and little for the many. Makes perfect sense, huh?

Honestly, I do think there is enough of the resource to go around for both comm and rec, however, it is patently obvious that there is an agenda being met, and that agenda is being fostered by the NMFS, and branch of NOAA. We have to get after their budget $$$$$$ to get their attention.

SimpleMan · 05-22-2009, 12:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by capt_dalton

Each commercial license holder gets a "quota" of the total commercial allowable catch. That quota is determined based on his past landing records.

So say a comm. guy has a 16,000# quota. He can fish anytime he wants. He does not have a "season". He just fishes until his 16,000#s is met.

I've got no problem with this if it was enforceable. Problem is that the "books" show 16,000#s harvested but don't show the other 16,000#s that were caught and sold under the table.

Quote:

Originally Posted by capt_dalton

Honestly, I do think there is enough of the resource to go around for both comm and rec, however, it is patently obvious that there is an agenda being met, and that agenda is being fostered by the NMFS, and branch of NOAA. We have to get after their budget $$$$$$ to get their attention.

Right on Brother!!!

But not only their budget. Some of them need to "retire".