Shortened red snapper season proposed by NOAA

MOBILE, Ala. (WALA) - Twenty-seven days: that's the proposed length of red snapper season this year.

It's an all-time low, nearly two weeks shorter than last year’s record for shortest season. It's a complicated mix of economics, policy and conservation that has led the snapper season to this point.

SNAPPER SEASON REELED IN

Recreational fishing is an industry that hooks millions of dollars for Alabama. At the heart of that industry is the angler's favorite sport fish: the red snapper.

However, federal quotas continue to take their toll and, this year, there likely won't even be a full month of red snapper season.

Chris Blankenship with Alabama Marine Resources told us, “The projection from the national marine fisheries service is a snapper season of 27 days."

Blankenship said artificial reefs are not being taken into account in the federal assessment and that’s punishing Alabama.

"For a state like Alabama that has spent so much time and money developing these artificial reefs, which has made us the red snapper capital of the world, the fishermen and the businesses that are related to recreational fishing are all going to struggle with a 27-day season," Blankenship told us.

QUOTA RELIES ON POUNDAGE

Alabama's artificial reefs have been a huge success, nearly doubling the weight of the average snapper over the last three years. But those bigger fish have an impact on the assessment.

Essentially, what happens since the quota works on total poundage of fish, bigger fish mean the quota is reached sooner, hence, a shorter season.

Dr. Sean Powers is on the advisory board that works with the quota. He said lean seasons are needed for the long-lived red snapper to fully rebound from the over-fishing of years past.

"What we want to see is those older age fish getting in the population? Do we have higher survivorship so we can see those older-age fish? So we can relax and increase the quota," Dr. Powers said.

Some believe taking control of the fishery on a state level could help. A meeting discussing that topic will be held Wednesday night at the Hilton in Orange Beach.

POLICY PLAYS IN

Right now, recreational and commercial fishermen split the quota.

Dr. Powers said another way to increase the quota is to re-divide it, but he told us even as the population rebounds he doesn't expect the red snapper fishery to ever be what it once was.

"Essentially the days of 90, 100 day seasons are pretty much gone," Dr. Powers said.

Powers will meet with the National Marine Fisheries service later this month in Miami for another assessment. He told us the 27 days can only be lengthened by cutting the bag limit in half to just one fish.

Either way, it's sure to be a lean summer for the fishing industry on the Gulf Coast.

Talker: What do you think about a shorter, Red Snapper season?