The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council is considering delegating some red snapper management authority to states. Alabama Marine Resources Officials contend they are better suited to manage red snapper fishery than the federal government.
For the second year in a row, red snapper reporting numbers have varied greatly between federal and state authorities. The Feds estimate 2,355,481 pounds of red snapper landed in Alabama during the red snapper season this year. That’s more than double Alabama’s Snapper Check of 1,045,042 pounds. Some anglers say that number cheats them by shortening red snapper season by at least half. However, charter for hire boat owners like Dale Woodruff want the Feds to maintain control.
“You know we have the Alabama Snapper Check Program. It’s local, we’re doing it here with our personnel using a much less complicated system and we feel like its much more accurate than what the federal government’s getting with telephone surveys and extrapolating that data,” said Chris Blankenship at the Tuesday night hearing.
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