Red snapper limits cause concern
BY HANNAH BUNNING Gulf Breeze News news@gulfbreezenews.com

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission recently voted to reduce the number of Red Snapper per person from four to two. Local fishermen like Joe Hayes, pictured above, will feel the pinch.

For many people on the Gulf Coast, a favorite pastime may be a thing of the past.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission FWC) voted Feb.7 to change the recreational bag limit of red

snapper in state waters from four to two fish per person.

They also voted to keep the season length the same.

Captain David Currey, former Coast Guard captain and owner of Currey's Charters in Pensacola,

attended the meeting to convey his concerns about

the potential loss of business.

"They have just about done the six-pack business in," he said.

Currey owns a six-passenger charter boat, often referred to as a "six-pack."

He believes six-person charters should be considered recreational and that he and his crew member should also be allowed the bag limit of

two red snapper. According to new regulations, the

captain and crew are prohibited from obtaining the bag limit.

Federal and state fishery biologists said overfishing

has depleted the number of red snapper of reproduction

age, which has hindered their population growth.

Lee Schlesinger, a government analyst for the FWC, said the shortage of red snapper has been a problem for around 25 years. Federal regulations were finally put in place demanding that the overfishing be stopped. The FWC voted to go along with the federal plan of reducing the bag limit, but decided to keep the season length of April 15 to Oct. 31 the same. The federal government changed the season length in federal waters to June 1 to Sept. 30. State rules apply less than nine nautical miles offshore, while federal rules apply farther out.

Currey said that during the red snapper season, they are the only fish that are available. Both amberjack and grouper fishing seasons are closed for most of that time of year.

"This is probably going to be the nail in our coffin," he said. "Now we are going to have to buy foreign fish in a fish market."

Currey is not the only one who is questioning the new regulations. Victor Wright, general manager of Gulf Breeze Bait and Tackle, said he thinks there isn't really a shortage in red snapper.

"Red snapper are everywhere," he said. "There are more now than there have been in the last 25 years."

Wright said that the state regulations are a lot better than the federal ones because the sixmonth season helps businesses. However, the federal laws would severely hurt his shop as well as all the other businesses in town and the tourist industry, he said.

"I think the regulations are a bad idea in the long and short term," he said. "Even at the fourfish per-person bag limit, the red snapper were not going to be overfished."

Schlesinger said that if all the Gulf states don't adopt the new regulations, then the FWC will have to go back to the drawing board.

The meeting brought out over 400 people to speak their opinions on the issue, he said.

These regulations are needed Gulf-wide in order for them to be successful. Currently, Alabama is still looking at their options, and Texas has no regulations in place.

This may very well be an issue that needs to be revisited in the future, he said.

Fisherman Dan Balsavich also said the new regulations would be a killer to the local economy.

"It's going to hurt the industry and the economy," said Balsavich, who also said he was a teacher at Holley Navarre Intermediate and was enjoying a day of fishing from the Pensacola Beach pier on President's Day. "That's what we're known for, our red snapper in the gulf."

Franklin Hayes contributed to this report.