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May 14, 2013
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May 14, 2013
A local state senator’s tug-of-war with federal fisheries regulators continues in Baton Rouge, although appearances are that only one side is holding onto the rope.
Sen. Bret Allain (R-Patterson) maintains that he will continue pressing passage of his bill, SB 157, which would prohibit the sale or possession of red snapper, dead or alive, on Louisiana’s waters or lands.
Allain acknowledges that his intent is to use the spectra of a commercial fishing ban on the species to bring Roy Crabtree, NOAA’s southeast region fisheries administrator, before his committee to discuss changes in NOAA rules on recreational snapper fishing.
Some critics say that makes the red snapper bill more of a red herring than anything else.
But so far, Crabtree isn’t biting.
“There is litigation going on in Louisiana between the state and the Fisheries Management Council,” said NOAA spokeswoman Kim Amendola. She said that means Crabtree would not be able to discuss new sport fishing rules, which limit the federal recreational season on red snapper to 9 days.
Allain has publicly stated that if the federal government believes red snapper is in so much jeopardy that such a radical seasonal change is required, then the right thing to do is not allow the state to suborn fishing of the species altogether.
“The federal authorities have refused to come to terms with us,” the state senator said last week when asked why he continues to push the bill.
Amendments added to the bill, however, appear to leave room for expansion of fishermen’s ability to fish snapper, allowing the state to set a season for the taking of the fish.
The bill’s next step is debate in the state Senate before a full vote by that body.
Red snapper poses unique regulatory issues, because the fish primarily is found in waters beyond Louisiana’s territorial limit. That means rules for snapper fishing are almost entirely up to the federal government, since those waters are still part of what is called the Exclusive Economic Zone of the U.S., thus enabling authority.
A federal reef-fishing permit is required to commercially harvest red snapper. There are, according to NOAA records, 816 such permits issued altogether for Gulf of Mexico waters. Of those, about 30 are held in Louisiana.
Although Louisiana cannot control the actual fishing of the snapper outside its limits, the state can control whether the fish, once taken, is allowed in its waters or on the land.
One of the strongest voices opposing Allain’s legislation is that of Harlon Pearce, a New Orleans seafood buyer who also sits on the Gulf of Mexico Fisheries Management Council.
“I respect the senator,” Pearce said, when asked about the bill. “But it’s just not helping. All he did was say he wanted Dr. Crabtree to come down and he puts his bill in yesterday and is holding it over Dr. Crabtree’s head.”
Problems between Louisiana and the feds began after the Gulf Council cut recreational red snapper fishing from 47 to 28 days with a two fish limit.
“I had strongly opposed that,” Pearce said.
Louisiana announced that it would not enforce the 28-day season. The Gulf Council then ordered a 9-day season for red snapper. Critics of that move said it appeared purely punitive.
Pearce is among those who say the restriction was not based in science.
“When Louisiana went non-compliant they knew there would be repercussions,” Pearce said. “Was NOAA a little heavy-handed? I’m not sure.”
Red snapper, he said, is not over-fished.
“We have double the biomass we had three years ago,” Pearce said. “The fish are growing.”
Commercial fishermen do not operate under the same rules. They have an individual quota for each fishermen, meaning that once scientists have examined the stock, each fisherman may catch up to a certain number of pounds per season.
State Sen. Bret Allain (R-Patterson) maintains he will continue to pressing passage of SB 157, which would prohibit the sale of possessino of red snapper, dead or alive, on Louisiana’s waters or lands.
