WHEREAS, the Red Snapper population of the Gulf of Mexico is currently managed as one gulf population under the jurisdiction of the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council (The Council); and
WHEREAS, population size, density, and spawning potential ratio of red snapper varies greatly from one region of the Gulf of Mexico to the next, therefore, employing a management plan that applies identical season lengths and creel limits to all regions of the Gulf seems illogical and unnecessarily restrictive; and
WHEREAS, in March 2015, the directors of the state fish and wildlife agencies from Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas announced an agreement (states’ agreement) for state-based management of Gulf of Mexico red snapper; and
WHEREAS, the states’ agreement, which is predicated on transferring management authority away from the Council, describes the key elements of a plan in which the five Gulf states would coordinate management of red snapper throughout the Gulf of Mexico through the proposed Gulf States Red Snapper Management Authority; and
WHEREAS, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries has displayed a capability to assess the biological condition of the fish located off Louisiana’s shores, to monitor and document the recreational take of those fish via the Louisiana Recreational Creel Survey (LA Creel) program, and to enforce the regulations established for the recreational take of marine fish.
Adopted by the Louisiana Wildlife Federation in Convention Assembled, August 22, 2015 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.