Seeking snapper

Recreational anglers hope regulations will ease under Trump

It’s getting easier to snap up red snapper.

The sought- after game fish has been at the center of a years- long debate between environmentalists who want to protect the iconic species while it continues to rebuild from overfishing and recreational anglers who contend that years of economically crippling restrictions have paid off, and it’s time to go fishing again.

After eight years of policies un- der President Obama that emphasized protection, there’s now a rising tide of momentum under the Trump administration to loosen restrictions in the federal waters off the Southeast. Already:

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross in June expanded the recreational fishing season for red snapper in the Gulf of Mexico from three to 42 days.

Legislation has been reintroduced in the House and Senate to give more say over red snapper management to Gulf Coast states, which are seen as more sympathetic to recreational anglers’ interests. And next month, the agency overseeing fishing restrictions in the South Atlantic is expected to lift a years- long ban on red snap- per in 2018.

All of that delights anglers who feel the Obama administration ignored their arguments that red snapper had rebounded so well they were “tripping over” fish.

“I feel a whole lot better today than I did a year ago,” said Jeff Angers, president of the Louisiana- based Center for Sportfishing Policy, which advocates for the recreational fishing industry.

Environmental advocates such as Holly Binns with the Pew Charitable Trust’s Tallahassee office are concerned that the steps being taken in the Gulf and the South Atlantic could endanger nearly a decade of progress rebuilding the still- threatened red snapper stocks.

“We’re concerned that in to- day’s political landscape there’s a bigger risk than ever that the core conservation safeguards in our nation’s laws, responsible for restoring a number of species back to health and ending sanctioned overfishing in U. S. waters, could be at risk,” she said.

Two environmental groups — Ocean Conservancy and the Environmental Defense Fund — have sued to stop the expanded Gulf season, claiming the administration is ignoring scientific assessments.

“Hard work and tough decisions have brought the red snapper fishery back from decades of overfishing,” said Chris Dorsett, Ocean Conservancy’s vice president for conservation policy and programs, when the lawsuit was filed last month. “We’re only about halfway through the rebuilding plan. You don’t stop taking antibiotics halfway through a prescription.”

Binns said she worries policymakers are not taking the full weight of science into account in making decisions on red snapper.

She pointed to a 2016 study showing that the species’ numbers are increasing but still remain below a healthy level. The study by the Southeast Data Assessment and Review estimated some 200,000 red snapper died in both 2014 and 2015 through accidental catch, an amount double what scientists determined the population could withstand.

“This could be a risky move,” she said.

EUROPEAN PRESSPHOTO AGENCY